Compositions and methods relating to glucagon receptor antibodies

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods relating to antigen binding proteins, in particular, antibodies which specifically bind to the human glucagon receptor. The disclosure provides nucleic acids encoding such antigen binding proteins and antibodies and methods of making and using such antibodies including methods of treating and preventing type 2 diabetes and related disorders by administering such antibodies to a subject in need of such treatment.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.60/846,202, filed on Sep. 20, 2006, and U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 60/968,977, filed Aug. 30, 2007, the entire disclosure of whichis relied upon and incorporated by reference herein.

SEQUENCE LISTING APPENDIX ON COMPACT DISC

This application includes the sequence listing submitted on the enclosedthree compact discs identified as “Compact Disc 1”, and duplicatecopies, “Copy 1”, and “Copy 2”. Each disc was created on Sep. 20, 2007,having a file named “A-1133-US-NP.txt” and having 150 K bytes of data,using an IBM-PC Compatible computer, MS-DOS/Windows NT, and Patentinsoftware version 3.3. The content of each disc is identical, and all ofwhich are incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of this invention relates to compositions and methods relatedto glucagon receptor antibodies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Glucagon is a 29 amino acid hormone processed from its proform in thepancreatic alpha cells by cell specific expression of prohormoneconvertase 2 (Furuta et al., J. Biol. Chem. 276: 27197-27202 (2001)).During fasting, glucagon secretion increases in response to fallingglucose levels. Increased glucagon secretion stimulates glucoseproduction by promoting hepatic glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis. Thusglucagon counterbalances the effects of insulin in maintaining normallevels of glucose in animals.

The glucagon receptor (GCGR) is a member of the secretin subfamily(family B) of G-protein-coupled receptors (GCGR). The glucagon receptoris predominantly expressed in the liver, where it regulates hepaticglucose output, and the kidney, reflecting its role in gluconeogenesis.The activation of the glucagon receptors in the liver stimulates theactivity of adenyl cyclase and phosphoinositol turnover whichsubsequently results in increased expression of gluconeogenic enzymesincluding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK),fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase-1), and glucose-6-phosphatase(G-6-Pase). In addition, glucagon signalling activates glycogenphosphorylase and inhibits glycogen synthase.

Studies have shown that higher basal glucagon levels and lack ofsuppression of postprandial glucagon secretion contribute to diabeticconditions in humans (Muller et al., N Eng J Med 283: 109-115 (1970)).Targeting glucagon production or function may be one method ofcontrolling and lowering blood glucose. There is a continuing need toprovide effective treatments for type 2 diabetes. The present inventionaddresses this need by providing novel compositions and methods fortreating type 2 diabetes and related diseases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides an isolated antigenbinding protein comprising either: a. a light chain CDR3 comprising asequence selected from the group consisting of: i. a light chain CDR3sequence that differs by no more than a total of three amino acidadditions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR3 sequence selectedfrom the group consisting of the light chain CDR3 sequences of L1-L23,SEQ ID NOs: 72; 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, 100; ii.L Q X₂₁ N S X₂₂ P L T (SEQ ID NO: 208), iii. Q A W D S X₂₃ T V X₂₄ (SEQID NO: 209); b. a heavy chain CDR3 sequence comprising a sequenceselected from the group consisting of: i. a heavy chain CDR3 sequencethat differs by no more than a total of four amino acid additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR3 sequence selected from thegroup consisting of the heavy chain CDR3 sequences of H1-H23, SEQ ID NO:165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 191,193, 195, 197, 199; ii. E X₂₅ X₂₆ X₂₇ YD IL T G Y X₂₈ X₂₉ Y Y G X₃₀ D V(SEQ ID NO: 210) iii. X₃₁ G G G F D Y (SEQ ID NO: 211); or c. the lightchain CDR3 sequence of (a) and the heavy chain CDR3 sequence of (b);wherein, X₂₁ is a histidine residue, or a glutamine residue, X₂₂ is anasparagine residue, an aspartate residue, or a tyrosine residue, X₂₃ isan asparagine residue or a serine residue, X₂₄ is an isoleucine residueor a valine residue, X₂₅ is a lysine residue, a glutamate residue, or aproline residue, X₂₆ is an aspartate residue, a threonine residue, aglutamine residue, or a proline residue, X₂₇ is a histidine residue or atyrosine residue, X₂₈ is an asparagine residue, a histidine residue, anaspartate residue, or a phenylalanine residue, X₂₉ is a tyrosineresidue, a histidine residue, or an asparagine residue, X₃₀ is a leucineresidue or a methionine residue, X₃₁ is a leucine residue or amethionine residue, wherein said antigen binding protein specificallybinds to the human glucagon receptor.

In one embodiment, the isolated binding protein further comprises anamino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: a. a lightchain CDR1 sequence selected from the group consisting of: i. a lightchain CDR1 that differs by no more than three amino acids additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR1 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ IDNOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 41;ii. R S X₁ Q S L L D X₂ X₃ D G T Y T L D (SEQ ID NO: 200); iii. R A S QX₄ I R N D X₅ G (SEQ ID NO: 201); and iv. S G D K L G D K Y X₆ C (SEQ IDNO: 202); wherein X₁ is a serine residue or a threonine residue, X₂ isan arginine residue or a serine residue, X₃ is an aspartate residue oran alanine residue, X₄ is a glycine residue or an aspartate residue, X₅is a leucine residue or a phenylalanine residue, X₆ is a valine residueor an alanine residue, b. a light chain CDR2 sequence selected from thegroup consisting of: i. a light chain CDR2 that differs by no more thantwo amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR2sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62,64, 66, 68, and 70; ii. A A S S L X₉ S (SEQ ID NO: 204); and iii. Q X₁₀X₁₁ K R P S (SEQ ID NO: 205); wherein X₉ is a glutamine residue or aglutamate residue, X₁₀ is a serine residue or a threonine residue, X₁₁is a threonine residue, or a serine residue; c. a heavy chain CDR1sequence selected from the group consisting of: i. a heavy chain CDR1that differs by no more than two amino acid additions, substitutions,and/or deletions from a CDR1 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104,106, 108, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118, 120 and 122, ii. X₇ Y X₈ M H (SEQ IDNO: 203) wherein X₇ is a serine residue or a threonine residue, X₈ is aglycine residue or an aspartate residue; and d. a heavy chain CDR2selected from the group consisting of: i. a heavy sequence that differsby no more than three amino acid additions, substitutions, and/ordeletions from a CDR2 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 124, 126, 128,130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 155, 157,159, 161, and 163; ii. X₁₂ I W X₁₃ D G S X₁₄ K Y Y X₁₅ D S V K G (SEQ IDNO: 206); and iii. X₁₆ I S X₁₇ D G S X₁₈ K Y X₁₉ X₂₀ D S V K G (SEQ IDNO: 207); wherein X₁₂ is a serine residue, a phenylalanine residue, avaline residue, or a glutamate residue, X₁₃ is a tyrosine residue or anasparagine residue, X₁₄ is an asparagine residue or a glutamate residue,X₁₅ is a valine residue or an alanine residue, X₁₆ is a valine residueor a phenylalanine residue, X₁₇ is a histidine residue, an aspartateresidue, or a tyrosine residue, X₁₈ is an aspartate residue, anasparagine residue, or a histidine residue, X₁₉ is a tyrosine residue,or a serine residue, X₂₀ is an alanine residue or a glycine residue,wherein said antigen binding protein specifically binds to the humanglucagon receptor.

In another embodiment, the antigen binding protein further comprises anamino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: a. a lightchain CDR1 sequence selected from the group consisting of: i. a lightchain CDR1 that differs by no more than three amino acids additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR1 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ IDNOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 41;ii. R S X₁ Q S L L D X₂ X₃ D G T Y T L D (SEQ ID NO: 200); iii. R A S QX₄ I R N D X₅ G (SEQ ID NO: 201); or iv. S G D K L G D K Y X₆ C (SEQ IDNO: 202); wherein X₁ is a serine residue or a threonine residue, X₂ isan arginine residue or a serine residue, X₃ is an aspartate residue oran alanine residue, X₄ is a glycine residue or an aspartate residue, X₅is a leucine residue or a phenylalanine residue, X₆ is a valine residueor an alanine residue; b. a light chain CDR2 sequence selected from thegroup consisting of: i. a light chain CDR2 that differs by no more thantwo amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR2sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62,64, 66, 68, and 70; ii. A A S S L X₉ S (SEQ ID NO: 204); or iii. Q X₁₀X₁₁ K R P S (SEQ ID NO: 205); wherein X₉ is a glutamine residue or aglutamate residue, X₁₀ is a serine residue or a threonine residue, X₁₁is a threonine residue, or a serine residue, c. a heavy chain CDR1sequence selected from the group consisting of: i. a heavy chain CDR1that differs by no more than two amino acid additions, substitutions,and/or deletions from a CDR1 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104,106, 108, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118, 120 and 122; ii. X₇ Y X₈ M H (SEQ IDNO: 203) wherein X₇ is a serine residue or a threonine residue, X₈ is aglycine residue or an aspartate residue; d. a heavy chain CDR2 selectedfrom the group consisting of: i. a heavy sequence that differs by nomore than three amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletionsfrom a CDR2 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 124, 126, 128, 130, 132,134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161,and 163; ii. X₁₂ I W X₁₃ DG S X₁₄ K Y Y X₁₅ D S V K G (SEQ ID NO: 206);iii. X₁₆ I S X₁₇ D G S X₁₈ K Y X₁₉ X₂₀ D S V K G (SEQ ID NO: 207);wherein X₁₂ is a serine residue, a phenylalanine residue, a valineresidue, or a glutamate residue, X₁₃ is a tyrosine residue or anasparagine residue, X₁₄ is an asparagine residue or a glutamate residue,X₁₅ is a valine residue or an alanine residue, X₁₆ is a valine residueor a phenylalanine residue, X₁₇ is a histidine residue, an aspartateresidue, or a tyrosine residue; X₁₈ is an aspartate residue, anasparagine residue, or a histidine residue; X₁₉ is a tyrosine residue,or a serine residue, X₂₀ is an alanine residue or a glycine residue; e.the light chain CDR1 of (a) and the light chain CDR2 of (b); the lightchain CDR1 of (a) and the heavy chain CDR1 of (c); g. the light chainCDR1 of (a) and the heavy chain CDR2 of (d); h. the light chain CDR2 of(b) and the heavy chain CDR1 of (c); i. the heavy chain CDR1 of (c) andthe heavy chain CDR2 of (d); j. the light chain CDR2 of (b) and theheavy chain CDR2 of (d); k. the light chain CDR1 of (a), the light chainCDR2 of (b), and the heavy chain CDR1 of (c); l. the light chain CDR2 of(b), the heavy chain CDR1 of (c), and the heavy chain CDR2 of (d); m.the light chain CDR1 of (a), the heavy chain CDR1 of (c), and the heavychain CDR2 of (d); or n. the light chain CDR1 of (a), the light chainCDR2 of (b), the heavy chain CDR1 of (c), and the heavy chain CDR2 of(d), wherein said antigen binding protein specifically binds to thehuman glucagon receptor.

In another embodiment, the isolated binding protein comprises an aminoacid sequence selected from the group consisting of: a. a light chainCDR1 sequence that differs by no more than two amino acids additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR1 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ IDNOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 41;b. a light chain CDR2 sequence that differs by no more than one aminoacid addition, substitution, and/or deletion from a CDR2 sequence ofL1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68,and 70; c. a light chain CDR3 sequence that differs by no more than twoamino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR3sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91,93, 95, 97, and 100; d. a heavy chain CDR1 sequence that differs by nomore than one amino acid addition, substitution, and/or deletion from aCDR1 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104, 106, 108, 111, 113, 115,117, 118, 120, and 122; e. a heavy chain CDR2 sequence that differs byno more than two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletionsfrom a CDR2 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 124, 126, 128, 130, 132,134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161,and 163; and f. a heavy chain CDR3 sequence that differs by no more thanthree amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR3sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179,181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 191, 193, 195, 197, and 199, wherein theantigen binding protein specifically binds to the human glucagonreceptor.

In another embodiment, the isolated binding protein comprises an aminoacid sequence selected from the group consisting of: a. a light chainCDR1 sequence that differs by no more than one amino acid addition,substitution, and/or deletion from a CDR I sequence of L1-L23, SEQ IDNOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 41;b. a light chain CDR2 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50,52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, and 70; c. a light chain CDR3sequence that differs by no more than one amino acid addition,substitution, and/or deletion from a CDR3 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ IDNOs: 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, and 100; d. aheavy chain CDR1 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104, 106, 108,111, 113, 115, 117, 118, 120, and 122; e. a heavy chain CDR2 sequencethat differs by no more than one amino acid addition, substitution,and/or deletions from a CDR2 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 124, 126,128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 155,157, 159, 161, and 163; and f. a heavy chain CDR3 sequence that differsby no more than two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/ordeletions from a CDR3 sequence of H11-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 165, 167, 169,171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 191, 193, 195, 197,and 199, wherein the antigen binding protein specifically binds to thehuman glucagon receptor.

In a further embodiment, the isolated binding protein comprises an aminoacid sequence selected from the group consisting of: a. a light chainCDR1 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26,28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 41; b. a light chain CDR3 sequence ofL1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97,and 100; c. a heavy chain CDR2 sequence of H11-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 124,126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 153,155, 157, 159, 161, and 163; and d. a heavy chain CDR3 sequence thatdiffers by no more than one amino acid addition, substitution, and/ordeletions from a CDR3 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 165, 167, 169,171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 191, 193, 195, 197,and 199, wherein the antigen binding protein specifically binds to thehuman glucagon receptor.

In a further embodiment, the isolated binding protein comprises an aminoacid sequence selected from the group consisting of: a heavy chain CDR3sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179,181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 191, 193, 195, 197, and 199, wherein theantigen binding protein specifically binds to the human glucagonreceptor.

In a further embodiment, the isolated binding protein comprises twoamino acid sequences selected from the group consisting of: a. a lightchain CDR1 sequence that differs by no more than three amino acidsadditions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR I sequence ofL1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34,36, 38, and 41; b. a light chain CDR2 sequence that differs by no morethan two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from aCDR2 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60,62, 64, 66, 68, and 70; c. a light chain CDR3 sequence that differs byno more than three amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletionsfrom a CDR3 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85,87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, and 100; d. a heavy chain CDR1 sequence thatdiffers by no more than two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/ordeletions from a CDR1 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104, 106,108, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118, 120, and 122; e. a heavy chain CDR2sequence that differs by no more than three amino acid additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR2 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ IDNOs: 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149,151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161, and 163; and f. a heavy chain CDR3sequence that differs by no more than four amino acid additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR3 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ IDNOs: 165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189,191, 193, 195, 197, and 199, wherein the antigen binding proteinspecifically binds to the human glucagon receptor.

In further embodiment, the isolated binding protein comprises threeamino acid sequences selected from the group consisting of: a. a lightchain CDR1 sequence that differs by no more than three amino acidsadditions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR1 sequence ofL1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34,36, 38, and 41; b. a light chain CDR2 sequence that differs by no morethan two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from aCDR2 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60,62, 64, 66, 68, and 70; c. a light chain CDR3 sequence that differs byno more than three amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletionsfrom a CDR3 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85,87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, and 100; d. a heavy chain CDR1 sequence thatdiffers by no more than two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/ordeletions from a CDR1 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104, 106,108, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118, 120, and 122; e. a heavy chain CDR2sequence that differs by no more than three amino acid additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR2 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ IDNOs: 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149,151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161, and 163; and f. a heavy chain CDR3sequence that differs by no more than four amino acid additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR3 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ IDNOs: 165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189,191, 193, 195, 197, and 199, wherein the antigen binding proteinspecifically binds to the human glucagon receptor.

In a further embodiment, the isolated binding protein comprises fouramino acid sequences selected from the group consisting of: a. a lightchain CDR1 sequence that differs by no more than three amino acidsadditions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR1 sequence ofL1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34,36, 38, and 41; b. a light chain CDR2 sequence that differs by no morethan two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from aCDR2 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60,62, 64, 66, 68, and 70; c. a light chain CDR3 sequence that differs byno more than three amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletionsfrom a CDR3 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85,87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, and 100; d. a heavy chain CDR1 sequence thatdiffers by no more than two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/ordeletions from a CDR1 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104, 106,108, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118, 120, and 122; e. a heavy chain CDR2sequence that differs by no more than three amino acid additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR2 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ IDNOs: 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149,151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161, and 163; and f. a heavy chain CDR3sequence that differs by no more than four amino acid additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR3 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ IDNOs: 165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189,191, 193, 195, 197, and 199, wherein the antigen binding proteinspecifically binds to the human glucagon receptor. In anotherembodiment, the isolated binding protein comprises five amino acidsequences selected from the group consisting of: a. a light chain CDR1sequence that differs by no more than three amino acids additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR1 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ IDNOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 41;b. a light chain CDR2 sequence that differs by no more than two aminoacid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR2 sequence ofL1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68,and 70; c. a light chain CDR3 sequence that differs by no more thanthree amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR3sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91,93, 95, 97, and 100; d. a heavy chain CDR1 sequence that differs by nomore than two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions froma CDR1 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104, 106, 108, 111, 113,115, 117, 118, 120, and 122; e. a heavy chain CDR2 sequence that differsby no more than three amino acid additions, substitutions, and/ordeletions from a CDR2 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 124, 126, 128,130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 155, 157,159, 161, and 163; and f. a heavy chain CDR3 sequence that differs by nomore than four amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletionsfrom a CDR3 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 165, 167, 169, 171, 173,175, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189, 191, 193, 195, 197, and 199,wherein the antigen binding protein specifically binds to the humanglucagon receptor.

In a further embodiment, the isolated binding protein comprises: a. alight chain CDR1 sequence that differs by no more than three amino acidsadditions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR1 sequence ofL1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34,36, 38, and 41; b. a light chain CDR2 sequence that differs by no morethan two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from aCDR2 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60,62, 64, 66, 68, and 70; c. a light chain CDR3 sequence that differs byno more than three amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletionsfrom a CDR3 sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85,87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, and 100; d. a heavy chain CDR1 sequence thatdiffers by no more than two amino acid additions, substitutions, and/ordeletions from a CDR1 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104, 106,108, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118, 120, and 122; e. a heavy chain CDR2sequence that differs by no more than three amino acid additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR2 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ IDNOs: 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149,151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161, and 163; and f. a heavy chain CDR3sequence that differs by no more than four amino acid additions,substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR3 sequence of H1-H23, SEQ IDNOs: 165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187, 189,191, 193, 195, 197, and 199, wherein the antigen binding proteinspecifically binds to the human glucagon receptor.

In another embodiment, the isolated antigen binding protein compriseseither: a. a light chain variable domain comprising i. a light chainCDR1 sequence selected from SEQ ID NOs: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24,26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 41; ii a light chain CDR2 sequenceselected from SEQ ID NOs: 43, 45, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64,66, 68, and 70; and iii. a light chain CDR3 sequence selected from SEQID NOs: 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, and 100; b.a heavy chain variable domain comprising: i. a heavy chain CDR1 sequenceselected from SEQ ID NOs: 102, 104, 106, 108, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118,120, and 122; ii. a heavy chain CDR2 sequence selected from SEQ ID NOs:124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151,153, 155, 157, 159, 161, and 163; and iii. a heavy chain CDR3 sequenceselected from SEQ ID NOs: 165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181,183, 185, 187, 189, 191, 193, 195, 197, and 199; or c. the light chainvariable domain of (a) and the heavy chain variable domain of (b),wherein the antigen binding protein specifically binds to the humanglucagon receptor.

In another embodiment, the isolated antigen binding protein compriseseither: a. a light chain variable domain sequence selected from thegroup consisting of: i. amino acids having a sequence at least 80%identical to a light chain variable domain sequence selected fromL1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 223, 225, 227, 229, 231,233, 235, 237, 239, 241, 243, 245, 247, 249, 251, 253, 255, and 257; ii.a sequence of amino acids encoded by a polynucleotide sequence that isat least 80% identical to a polynucleotide sequence encoding the lightchain variable domain sequence of L1-L23, SEQ ID NOs: 212, 214, 216,218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, 242, 244,246, 248, 250, 252, 254, and 256; iii. a sequence of amino acids encodedby a polynucleotide sequence that hybridizes under moderately stringentconditions to the complement of a polynucleotide consisting of a lightchain variable domain sequence of L1-L23 of SEQ ID NOs: 212, 214, 216,218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, 242, 244,246, 248, 250, 252, 254, and 256; b. a heavy chain variable domainsequence selected from the group consisting of: i. a sequence of aminoacids that is at least 80% identical to a heavy chain variable domainsequence of H1-H23 of SEQ ID NOs: 259, 261, 263, 265, 267, 269, 271,273, 275, 277, 279, 281, 283, 285, 287, 289, 291, 293, 295, 297, 299,301, and 303; ii. a sequence of amino acids encoded by a polynucleotidesequence that is at least 80% identical to a polynucleotide sequenceencoding the heavy chain variable domain sequence of H1-H23, SEQ ID NOs:258, 260, 262, 264, 266, 268, 270, 272, 274, 276, 278, 280, 282, 284,286, 288, 290, 292, 294, 296, 298, 300, and 302; iii. a sequence ofamino acids encoded by a polynucleotide sequence that hybridizes undermoderately stringent conditions to the complement of a polynucleotideconsisting of a heavy chain variable domain sequence of H1-H23, SEQ IDNOs: 258, 260, 262, 264, 266, 268, 270, 272, 274, 276, 278, 280, 282,284, 286, 288, 290, 292, 294, 296, 298, 300, and 302; or c. the lightchain variable domain of (a) and the heavy chain variable domain of (b),wherein said antigen binding protein specifically binds to the humanglucagon receptor.

In another embodiment, the isolated antigen binding protein compriseseither: a. a light chain variable domain sequence selected from thegroup consisting of: L1-L23 of SEQ ID NOs: 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 223,225, 227, 229, 231, 233, 235, 237, 239, 241, 243, 245, 247, 249, 251,253, 255, and 257; b. a heavy chain variable domain sequence selectedfrom the group consisting of: H1-H23 of SEQ ID NOs: 259, 261, 263, 265,267, 269, 271, 273, 275, 277, 279, 281, 283, 285, 287, 289, 291, 293,295, 297, 299, 301, and 303; or c. the light chain variable domain of(a) and the heavy chain variable domain of (b), wherein the antigenbinding protein specifically binds to the human glucagon.

In another embodiment the isolated antigen binding protein comprises acombination of a light chain variable domain and a heavy chain variabledomain selected from the group of combinations consisting of: L1H1,L2H2, L3H3, L4H4, L5H5, L6H6, L7H7, L8H8, L9H9, L10H10, L11H111, L12H12,L13H13, L14H14, L15H15, L16H16, L17H17, L18H18, L19H19, L20H20, L21H21,L22H22, and L23H23 wherein the antigen binding protein specificallybinds to the human glucagon receptor. In one embodiment, the isolatedantigen binding protein further comprises: the light chain constantsequence of SEQ ID NO: 305; the light chain constant sequence of SEQ IDNO: 307; the heavy chain constant sequence of SEQ ID NO: 309; the lightchain constant sequence of SEQ ID NO: 305 and the heavy chain constantsequence of SEQ ID NO: 309; or the light chain constant sequence of SEQID NO: 307 and the heavy chain constant sequence of SEQ ID NO: 309.

In another embodiment, the isolated antigen binding protein is selectedfrom the group consisting of a human antibody, a humanized antibody,chimeric antibody, a monoclonal antibody, a polyclonal antibody, arecombinant antibody, an antigen-binding antibody fragment, a singlechain antibody, a diabody, a triabody, a tetrabody, a Fab fragment, anF(fa′)_(x) fragment, a domain antibody, an IgD antibody, an IgEantibody, and IgM antibody, and IgG1 antibody, and IgG2 antibody, andIgG3 antibody, and IgG4 antibody, and IgG4 antibody having at least onemutation in the hinge region that alleviates a tendency to form intraH-chain disulfide bonds. In one embodiment, the antigen binding proteinis a human antibody.

In another aspect, the isolated antigen binding protein, when bound tothe human glucagon receptor: a. binds to the human glucagon receptorwith substantially the same Kd as a reference antibody; b. inhibitsglucagon stimulation of the human glucagon receptor with substantiallythe same IC₅₀ as said reference antibody, or c. competes for bindingwith said reference antibody, wherein said reference antibody comprisesa combination of light chain and heavy chain variable domain sequencesselected from the group consisting of L1H1, L2H2, L3H3, L4H4, L5H5,L6H6, L7H7, L8H8, L9H9, L11H11, L12H12, L13H13, L15H15, L21H21, andL22H22.

In another aspect, provided is an isolated human antibody, when bound tothe human glucagon receptor: a. binds to the human glucagon receptorwith substantially the same Kd as a reference antibody; b. inhibitsglucagon stimulation of the human glucagon receptor with substantiallythe same IC₅₀ as said reference antibody, or c. competes for bindingwith said reference antibody, wherein said reference antibody comprisesa combination of light chain and heavy chain variable domain sequencesselected from the group consisting of A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, A-5, A-6, A-7,A-8, A-9, A-11, A-12, A-13, A-15, A-21, and A-22.

In another aspect, provided is an isolated human antibody, that, whenbound to the human glucagon receptor: a. specifically binds to Ser80 toSer119 of the human glucagon receptor; b. reduces glucagon signallingwith an IC50 value of 90 nM or less; c. lowers blood glucose in ananimal model; d. both a. and b., or e. both a., b., and c. In oneembodiment, the animal model is the ob/ob animal model.

In another aspect, provided is a pharmaceutical composition comprisingthe antigen binding protein in admixture with a pharmaceuticallyacceptable carrier. In another embodiment, the pharmaceuticalcomposition comprises an isolated human antibody in admixture with apharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

In another aspect, provided is an isolated nucleic acid comprising thepolynucleotide sequence that encodes either the light chain variabledomain, the heavy chain variable domain, or both, of an antigen bindingprotein of the invention. In one embodiment, the polynucleotidecomprises a light chain variable domain polynucleotide sequence L1-L23,SEQ ID NOs: 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234,236, 238, 240, 242, 244, 246, 248, 250, 252, 254, and 256, a heavy chainvariable domain polynucleotide sequence H1-H23, SEQ ID NO: 258, 260,262, 264, 266, 270, 272, 274, 276, 278, 280, 282, 284, 286, 288, 290,292, 294, 296, 298, 300, 302, or both.

Also provided are vectors comprising the nucleic acid of the presentinvention. In one embodiment the vector is an expression vector. Alsoprovided is an isolated cell comprising the nucleic acid of theinvention. In one embodiment, the cell is a host cell comprising theexpression vector of the invention. In another embodiment, the cell is ahybridoma, wherein the chromosome of the cell comprises nucleic acid ofthe invention. Further provided is a method of making the antigenbinding protein of the present invention comprising culturing orincubating the cell under conditions that allow the cell to express theantigen binding protein of the invention.

Also provided is a method of lowering blood glucose in a subject in needthereof comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount ofthe pharmaceutical compositions to the subject. Also provided is amethod of improving glucose tolerance in a subject in need thereofcomprising administering a therapeutically effective dosage of thepharmaceutical compositions to the subject. Also provided is a method ofpreventing or treating type 2 diabetes or related disorders in a subjectin need thereof by administering a therapeutically effective amount ofthe pharmaceutical compositions to the subject. In one embodiment, thesubject is a human subject. In another embodiment, the related disorderis selected from hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, impaired fastingglucose, impaired glucose tolerance, dyslipodemia, and metabolicsyndrome. Also provided is a method of treating a condition in a subjectin need of such treatment comprising administering a therapeuticallyeffective amount of the pharmaceutical composition to the subject,wherein the condition is treatable by lowering blood glucose. In oneembodiment, the condition is selected from hyperglycemia,hyperinsulinemia, impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance,dyslipodemia, and type 2 diabetes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows blood glucose levels of 14-week old male ob/ob mice after asingle injection of antibody A-3 or antibody A-4 compared with buffer,at a dose of 1 or 3 mg/kg (n=10 animals/group). Blood glucose wasmeasured at time 0 and at 24, 48, 96, 120, 144, 192 and 240 hours afterinjection.

FIG. 2 shows blood glucose levels of 14-week old male ob/ob mice after asingle injection of antibody A-3, or antibody A-9 compared with bufferat a dose of 1 or 3 mg/kg (n=10 animals/group). Blood glucose wasmeasured at time 0 and at 24, 72, 120, 192, and 240 hours afterinjection.

FIG. 3 shows the results of an oral glucose tolerance test (GTT) showingthe glucose levels under the curve (AUC) before (GTT1 and GTT2) andafter (GTT3, 4, and 5) a single subcutaneous injection of vehicle orantibody 9 (A9).

FIG. 4 shows unlabeled antibodies capable of competing for binding withlabeled antibody A-3 (surmountable antibodies).

FIG. 5 shows unlabeled antibodies capable of partially competing forbinding with labeled antibody A-3 (partially surmountable antibodies).

FIG. 6 shows unlabeled antibodies not capable of competing for bindingwith labeled antibody A-3 (unsurmountable antibodies).

FIG. 7 shows the results of binding studies for four anti-GCGRantibodies to chimeric receptors constructed from human GCGR and humanGLP-1 receptors as indicted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to antigen binding proteins such asantibodies that specifically bind to the human glucagon receptor (GCGR).These include antigen binding proteins that inhibit or block the bindingof glucagon to human GCGR, and reduce glucagon signalling through thereceptor. In one embodiment, provided are human antibodies includingantagonistic antibodies capable lower blood glucose in animal models.The antigen binding proteins are useful for treating diabetes andrelated diseases.

The present invention further provides compositions, kits, and methodsrelating to antigen binding proteins that specifically bind to the humanglucagon receptor. Also provided are nucleic acid molecules, andderivatives and fragments thereof, comprising a sequence ofpolynucleotides that encode all or a portion of a polypeptide that bindsto the glucagon receptor, such as a nucleic acid encoding all or part ofan anti-glucagon receptor antibody, antibody fragment, or antibodyderivative. The present invention further provides vectors and plasmidscomprising such nucleic acids, and cells or cell lines comprising suchnucleic acids and/or vectors and plasmids. The provided methods include,for example, methods of making, identifying, or isolating antigenbinding proteins that bind to human GCGR, such as anti-GCGR antibodies,methods of determining whether an antigen binding protein binds to GCGR,methods of making compositions, such as pharmaceutical compositions,comprising an antigen binding protein that binds to human GCGR, andmethods for administering an antigen binding protein that binds GCGR toa subject, for example, methods for treating a condition mediated byGCGR, and for modulating a biological activity associated with glucagonsignalling in vivo or in vitro.

Definitions

Polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences are indicated using standardone- or three-letter abbreviations. Unless otherwise indicated,polypeptide sequences have their amino termini at the left and theircarboxy termini at the right, and single-stranded nucleic acidsequences, and the top strand of double-stranded nucleic acid sequences,have their 5′ termini at the left and their 3′ termini at the right. Aparticular section of a polypeptide can be designated by amino acidresidue number such as amino acids 80 to 119, or by the actual residueat that site such as Ser80 to Ser119. A particular polypeptide orpolynucleotide sequence also can be described by explaining how itdiffers from a reference sequence. Polynucleotide and polypeptidesequences of particular light and heavy chain variable domains aredesignated L1 (“light chain variable domain 1”) and H1 (“heavy chainvariable domain 1”). Antigen binding proteins or antibodies comprising alight chain and heavy chain are indicated by combining the name of thelight chain and the name of the heavy chain variable domains. Forexample, “L4H7,” indicates, for example, an antibody comprising thelight chain variable domain of L4 and the heavy chain variable domain ofH7.

Unless otherwise defined herein, scientific and technical terms used inconnection with the present invention shall have the meanings that arecommonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. Further,unless otherwise required by context, singular terms shall includepluralities and plural terms shall include the singular. Generally,nomenclatures used in connection with, and techniques of, cell andtissue culture, molecular biology, immunology, microbiology, geneticsand protein and nucleic acid chemistry and hybridization describedherein are those well known and commonly used in the art. The methodsand techniques of the present invention are generally performedaccording to conventional methods well known in the art and as describedin various general and more specific references that are cited anddiscussed throughout the present specification unless otherwiseindicated. See, e.g., Sambrook et al. Molecular Cloning: A LaboratoryManual, 2d ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor,N.Y. (1989) and Ausubel et al., Current Protocols in Molecular Biology,Greene Publishing Associates (1992), and Harlow and Lane Antibodies: ALaboratory Manual Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold SpringHarbor, N.Y. (1990), which are incorporated herein by reference.Enzymatic reactions and purification techniques are performed accordingto manufacturer's specifications, as commonly accomplished in the art oras described herein. The terminology used in connection with, and thelaboratory procedures and techniques of, analytical chemistry, syntheticorganic chemistry, and medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry describedherein are those well known and commonly used in the art. Standardtechniques can be used for chemical syntheses, chemical analyses,pharmaceutical preparation, formulation, and delivery, and treatment ofpatients.

The following terms, unless otherwise indicated, shall be understood tohave the following meanings: The term “isolated molecule” (where themolecule is, for example, a polypeptide, a polynucleotide, or anantibody) is a molecule that by virtue of its origin or source ofderivation (1) is not associated with naturally associated componentsthat accompany it in its native state, (2) is substantially free ofother molecules from the same species (3) is expressed by a cell from adifferent species, or (4) does not occur in nature. Thus, a moleculethat is chemically synthesized, or expressed in a cellular systemdifferent from the cell from which it naturally originates, will be“isolated” from its naturally associated components. A molecule also maybe rendered substantially free of naturally associated components byisolation, using purification techniques well known in the art. Moleculepurity or homogeneity may be assayed by a number of means well known inthe art. For example, the purity of a polypeptide sample may be assayedusing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and staining of the gel tovisualize the polypeptide using techniques well known in the art. Forcertain purposes, higher resolution may be provided by using HPLC orother means well known in the art for purification.

The terms “glucagon inhibitor”, and “glucagon antagonist” are usedinterchangeably. Each is a molecule that detectably inhibits glucagonsignalling. The inhibition caused by an inhibitor need not be completeso long as it is detectable using an assay. For example, the cell-basedassay described in Example 4 below, demonstrates an assay useful fordetermining glucagon signalling inhibition.

The terms “peptide” “polypeptide” and “protein” each refers to amolecule comprising two or more amino acid residues joined to each otherby peptide bonds. These terms encompass, e.g., native and artificialproteins, protein fragments and polypeptide analogs (such as muteins,variants, and fusion proteins) of a protein sequence as well aspost-translationally, or otherwise covalently or non-covalently,modified proteins. A peptide, polypeptide, or protein may be monomericor polymeric.

The term “polypeptide fragment” as used herein refers to a polypeptidethat has an amino-terminal and/or carboxy-terminal deletion as comparedto a corresponding full-length protein. Fragments can be, for example,at least 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 50, 70, 80, 90, 100,150 or 200 amino acids in length. Fragments can also be, for example, atmost 1,000, 750, 500, 250, 200, 175, 150, 125, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50,40, 30, 20, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, or 10 amino acids in length. A fragmentcan further comprise, at either or both of its ends, one or moreadditional amino acids, for example, a sequence of amino acids from adifferent naturally-occurring protein (e.g., an Fc or leucine zipperdomain) or an artificial amino acid sequence (e.g., an artificial linkersequence).

Polypeptides of the invention include polypeptides that have beenmodified in any way and for any reason, for example, to: (1) reducesusceptibility to proteolysis, (2) reduce susceptibility to oxidation,(3) alter binding affinity for forming protein complexes, (4) alterbinding affinities, and (4) confer or modify other physicochemical orfunctional properties. Analogs include muteins of a polypeptide. Forexample, single or multiple amino acid substitutions (e.g., conservativeamino acid substitutions) may be made in the naturally occurringsequence (e.g., in the portion of the polypeptide outside the domain(s)forming intermolecular contacts). A “conservative amino acidsubstitution” is one that does not substantially change the structuralcharacteristics of the parent sequence (e.g., a replacement amino acidshould not tend to break a helix that occurs in the parent sequence, ordisrupt other types of secondary structure that characterize the parentsequence or are necessary for its functionality). Examples ofart-recognized polypeptide secondary and tertiary structures aredescribed in Proteins, Structures and Molecular Principles (Creighton,Ed., W. H. Freeman and Company, New York (1984)); Introduction toProtein Structure (C. Branden and J. Tooze, eds., Garland Publishing,New York, N.Y. (1991)); and Thornton et al. Nature 354:105 (1991), whichare each incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention also provides non-peptide analogs of GCGR antigenbinding proteins. Non-peptide analogs are commonly used to provide drugswith properties analogous to those of the template peptide. These typesof non-peptide compound are termed “peptide mimetics” or“peptidomimetics”. Fauchere, J. Adv. Drug Res. 15:29 (1986); Veber andFreidinger TINS p. 392 (1985); and Evans et al. J. Med. Chem. 30:1229(1987), which are incorporated herein by reference. Peptide mimeticsthat are structurally similar to therapeutically useful peptides may beused to produce an equivalent therapeutic or prophylactic effect.Generally, peptidomimetics are structurally similar to a paradigmpolypeptide (i.e., a polypeptide that has a desired biochemical propertyor pharmacological activity), such as a human antibody, but have one ormore peptide linkages optionally replaced by a linkage selected from thegroup consisting of: —CH₂NH—, —CH₂S—, —CH₂—CH₂—, —CH═CH-(cis and trans),—COCH₂—, —CH(OH)CH₂—, and —CH₂SO—, by methods well known in the art.Systematic substitution of one or more amino acids of a consensussequence with a D-amino acid of the same type (e.g., D-lysine in placeof L-lysine) may also be used to generate more stable peptides. Inaddition, constrained peptides comprising a consensus sequence or asubstantially identical consensus sequence variation may be generated bymethods known in the art (Rizo and Gierasch Ann. Rev. Biochem. 61:387(1992), incorporated herein by reference), for example, by addinginternal cysteine residues capable of forming intramolecular disulfidebridges which cyclize the peptide.

A “variant” of a polypeptide (e.g., an antibody) comprises an amino acidsequence wherein one or more amino acid residues are inserted into,deleted from and/or substituted into the amino acid sequence relative toanother polypeptide sequence. Variants of the invention include fusionproteins.

A “derivative” of a polypeptide is a polypeptide (e.g., an antibody)that has been chemically modified, e.g., via conjugation to anotherchemical moiety such as, for example, polyethylene glycol, albumin(e.g., human serum albumin), phosphorylation, and glycosylation. Unlessotherwise indicated, the term “antibody” includes, in addition toantibodies comprising two full-length heavy chains and two full-lengthlight chains, derivatives, variants, fragments, and muteins thereof,examples of which are described below.

An “antigen binding protein” is a protein comprising a portion thatbinds to an antigen and, optionally, a scaffold or framework portionthat allows the antigen binding portion to adopt a conformation thatpromotes binding of the antigen binding protein to the antigen. Examplesof antigen binding proteins include antibodies, antibody fragments(e.g., an antigen binding portion of an antibody), antibody derivatives,and antibody analogs. The antigen binding protein can comprise, forexample, an alternative protein scaffold or artificial scaffold withgrafted CDRs or CDR derivatives. Such scaffolds include, but are notlimited to, antibody-derived scaffolds comprising mutations introducedto, for example, stabilize the three-dimensional structure of theantigen binding protein as well as wholly synthetic scaffoldscomprising, for example, a biocompatible polymer. See, for example,Korndorfer et al., 2003, Proteins: Structure, Function, andBioinformatics, Volume 53, Issue 1:121-129 (2003); Roque et al.,Biotechnol. Prog. 20:639-654 (2004). In addition, peptide antibodymimetics (“PAMs”) can be used, as well as scaffolds based on antibodymimetics utilizing fibronection components as a scaffold.

An antigen binding protein can have, for example, the structure of anaturally occurring immunoglobulin. An “immunoglobulin” is a tetramericmolecule. In a naturally occurring immunoglobulin, each tetramer iscomposed of two identical pairs of polypeptide chains, each pair havingone “light” (about 25 kDa) and one “heavy” chain (about 50-70 kDa). Theamino-terminal portion of each chain includes a variable region of about100 to 110 or more amino acids primarily responsible for antigenrecognition. The carboxy-terminal portion of each chain defines aconstant region primarily responsible for effector function. Human lightchains are classified as kappa and lambda light chains. Heavy chains areclassified as mu, delta, gamma, alpha, or epsilon, and define theantibody's isotype as IgM, IgD, IgG, IgA, and IgE, respectively. Withinlight and heavy chains, the variable and constant regions are joined bya “J” region of about 12 or more amino acids, with the heavy chain alsoincluding a “D” region of about 10 more amino acids. See generally,Fundamental Immunology Ch. 7 (Paul, W., ed., 2nd ed. Raven Press, N.Y.(1989)) (incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes).The variable regions of each light/heavy chain pair form the antibodybinding site such that an intact immunoglobulin has two binding sites.

Naturally occurring immunoglobulin chains exhibit the same generalstructure of relatively conserved framework regions (FR) joined by threehypervariable regions, also called complementarity determining regionsor CDRs. From N-terminus to C-terminus, both light and heavy chainscomprise the domains FR1, CDR1, FR2, CDR2, FR3, CDR3 and FR4. Theassignment of amino acids to each domain is in accordance with thedefinitions of Kabat et al. in Sequences of Proteins of ImmunologicalInterest, 5th Ed., US Dept. of Health and Human Services, PHS, NIH, NIHPublication no. 91-3242, 1991.

An “antibody” refers to an intact immunoglobulin or to an antigenbinding portion thereof that competes with the intact antibody forspecific binding, unless otherwise specified. Antigen binding portionsmay be produced by recombinant DNA techniques or by enzymatic orchemical cleavage of intact antibodies. Antigen binding portionsinclude, inter alia, Fab, Fab′, F(ab′)₂, Fv, domain antibodies (dAbs),fragments including complementarity determining regions (CDRs),single-chain antibodies (scFv), chimeric antibodies, diabodies,triabodies, tetrabodies, and polypeptides that contain at least aportion of an immunoglobulin that is sufficient to confer specificantigen binding to the polypeptide.

A Fab fragment is a monovalent fragment having the V_(L), V_(H), C_(L)and C_(H)1 domains; a F(ab′)₂ fragment is a bivalent fragment having twoFab fragments linked by a disulfide bridge at the hinge region; a Fdfragment has the V_(H) and C_(H)1 domains; an Fv fragment has the V_(L)and V_(H) domains of a single arm of an antibody; and a dAb fragment hasa V_(H) domain, a V_(L) domain, or an antigen-binding fragment of aV_(H) or V_(L) domain (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,846,634, 6,696,245, US App. Pub.No. 05/0202512, 04/0202995, 04/0038291, 04/0009507, 03/0039958, Ward etal., Nature 341:544-546 (1989)).

A single-chain antibody (scFv) is an antibody in which a V_(L) and aV_(H) region are joined via a linker (e.g., a synthetic sequence ofamino acid residues) to form a continuous protein chain wherein thelinker is long enough to allow the protein chain to fold back on itselfand form a monovalent antigen binding site (see, e.g., Bird et al.,Science 242:423-26 (1988) and Huston et al., 1988, Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA 85:5879-83 (1988)). Diabodies are bivalent antibodiescomprising two polypeptide chains, wherein each polypeptide chaincomprises V_(H) and V_(L) domains joined by a linker that is too shortto allow for pairing between two domains on the same chain, thusallowing each domain to pair with a complementary domain on anotherpolypeptide chain (see, e.g., Holliger et al., 1993, Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA 90:6444-48 (1993), and Poljak et al., Structure 2:1121-23(1994)). If the two polypeptide chains of a diabody are identical, thena diabody resulting from their pairing will have two identical antigenbinding sites. Polypeptide chains having different sequences can be usedto make a diabody with two different antigen binding sites. Similarly,tribodies and tetrabodies are antibodies comprising three and fourpolypeptide chains, respectively, and forming three and four antigenbinding sites, respectively, which can be the same or different.

Complementarity determining regions (CDRs) and framework regions (FR) ofa given antibody may be identified using the system described by Kabatet al. in Sequences of Proteins of Immunological Interest, 5th Ed., USDept. of Health and Human Services, PHS, NIH, NIH Publication no.91-3242, 1991. One or more CDRs may be incorporated into a moleculeeither covalently or noncovalently to make it an antigen bindingprotein. An antigen binding protein may incorporate the CDR(s) as partof a larger polypeptide chain, may covalently link the CDR(s) to anotherpolypeptide chain, or may incorporate the CDR(s) noncovalently. The CDRspermit the antigen binding protein to specifically bind to a particularantigen of interest.

An antigen binding protein may have one or more binding sites. If thereis more than one binding site, the binding sites may be identical to oneanother or may be different. For example, a naturally occurring humanimmunoglobulin typically has two identical binding sites, while a“bispecific” or “bifunctional” antibody has two different binding sites.

The term “human antibody” includes all antibodies that have one or morevariable and constant regions derived from human immunoglobulinsequences. In one embodiment, all of the variable and constant domainsare derived from human immunoglobulin sequences (a fully humanantibody). These antibodies may be prepared in a variety of ways,examples of which are described below, including through theimmunization with an antigen of interest of a mouse that is geneticallymodified to express antibodies derived from human heavy and/or lightchain-encoding genes.

A humanized antibody has a sequence that differs from the sequence of anantibody derived from a non-human species by one or more amino acidsubstitutions, deletions, and/or additions, such that the humanizedantibody is less likely to induce an immune response, and/or induces aless severe immune response, as compared to the non-human speciesantibody, when it is administered to a human subject. In one embodiment,certain amino acids in the framework and constant domains of the heavyand/or light chains of the non-human species antibody are mutated toproduce the humanized antibody. In another embodiment, the constantdomain(s) from a human antibody are fused to the variable domain(s) of anon-human species. In another embodiment, one or more amino acidresidues in one or more CDR sequences of a non-human antibody arechanged to reduce the likely immunogenicity of the non-human antibodywhen it is administered to a human subject, wherein the changed aminoacid residues either are not critical for immunospecific binding of theantibody to its antigen, or the changes to the amino acid sequence thatare made are conservative changes, such that the binding of thehumanized antibody to the antigen is not significantly worse than thebinding of the non-human antibody to the antigen. Examples of how tomake humanized antibodies may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,054,297,5,886,152 and 5,877,293.

The term “chimeric antibody” refers to an antibody that contains one ormore regions from one antibody and one or more regions from one or moreother antibodies. In one embodiment, one or more of the CDRs are derivedfrom a human anti-GCGR antibody. In another embodiment, all of the CDRsare derived from a human anti-GCGR antibody. In another embodiment, theCDRs from more than one human anti-GCGR antibodies are mixed and matchedin a chimeric antibody. For instance, a chimeric antibody may comprise aCDR1 from the light chain of a first human anti-GCGR antibody, a CDR2and a CDR3 from the light chain of a second human anti-GCGR antibody,and the CDRs from the heavy chain from a third anti-GCGR antibody.Further, the framework regions may be derived from one of the sameanti-GCGR antibodies, from one or more different antibodies, such as ahuman antibody, or from a humanized antibody. In one example of achimeric antibody, a portion of the heavy and/or light chain isidentical with, homologous to, or derived from an antibody from aparticular species or belonging to a particular antibody class orsubclass, while the remainder of the chain(s) is/are identical with,homologous to, or derived from an antibody or antibodies from anotherspecies or belonging to another antibody class or subclass. Alsoincluded are fragments of such antibodies that exhibit the desiredbiological activity (i.e., the ability to specifically bind the humanglucagon receptor).

A “neutralizing antibody” or “inhibitory antibody” refers to an antibodythat inhibits the binding of glucagon to the human glucagon receptor,and/or inhibits or reduces glucagon signalling, as determined, forexample, by the cell-based assay described in Example 4 below. Theinhibition need not be complete and may be, in one embodiment, reducesbinding or signalling by at least 20%. In further embodiments, thereduction in binding or signalling is at least 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%,80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, 99% and 99.9%.

Fragments or analogs of antibodies can be readily prepared by those ofordinary skill in the art following the teachings of this specificationand using techniques well-known in the art. Preferred amino- andcarboxy-termini of fragments or analogs occur near boundaries offunctional domains. Structural and functional domains can be identifiedby comparison of the nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence data topublic or proprietary sequence databases. Computerized comparisonmethods can be used to identify sequence motifs or predicted proteinconformation domains that occur in other proteins of known structureand/or function. Methods to identify protein sequences that fold into aknown three-dimensional structure are known. See, e.g., Bowie et al.,Science 253:164 (1991).

A “CDR grafted antibody” is an antibody comprising one or more CDRsderived from an antibody of a particular species or isotype and theframework of another antibody of the same or different species orisotype.

A “multi-specific antibody” is an antibody that recognizes more than oneepitope on one or more antigens. A subclass of this type of antibody isa “bi-specific antibody” which recognizes two distinct epitopes on thesame or different antigens.

An antigen binding protein including an antibody “specifically binds” toan antigen, such as the human glucagon receptor if it binds to theantigen with a high binding affinity as determined by a dissociationconstant (Kd, or corresponding Kb, as defined below) value of 10⁻⁷ M orless. An antigen binding protein that specifically binds to the humanglucagon receptor may be able to bind to glucagon receptors from otherspecies as well with the same or different affinities.

An “epitope” is the portion of a molecule that is bound by an antigenbinding protein (e.g., by an antibody). An epitope can comprisenon-contiguous portions of the molecule (e.g., in a polypeptide, aminoacid residues that are not contiguous in the polypeptide's primarysequence but that, in the context of the polypeptide's tertiary andquaternary structure, are near enough to each other to be bound by anantigen binding protein).

The “percent identity” of two polynucleotide or two polypeptidesequences is determined by comparing the sequences using the GAPcomputer program (a part of the GCG Wisconsin Package, version 10.3(Accelrys, San Diego, Calif.)) using its default parameters.

The terms “polynucleotide,” “oligonucleotide” and “nucleic acid” areused interchangeably throughout and include DNA molecules (e.g., cDNA orgenomic DNA), RNA molecules (e.g., mRNA), analogs of the DNA or RNAgenerated using nucleotide analogs (e.g., peptide nucleic acids andnon-naturally occurring nucleotide analogs), and hybrids thereof. Thenucleic acid molecule can be single-stranded or double-stranded. In oneembodiment, the nucleic acid molecules of the invention comprise acontiguous open reading frame encoding an antibody, or a fragment,derivative, mutein, or variant thereof, of the invention.

Two single-stranded polynucleotides are “the complement” of each otherif their sequences can be aligned in an anti-parallel orientation suchthat every nucleotide in one polynucleotide is opposite itscomplementary nucleotide in the other polynucleotide, without theintroduction of gaps, and without unpaired nucleotides at the 5′ or the3′ end of either sequence. A polynucleotide is “complementary” toanother polynucleotide if the two polynucleotides can hybridize to oneanother under moderately stringent conditions. Thus, a polynucleotidecan be complementary to another polynucleotide without being itscomplement.

A “vector” is a nucleic acid that can be used to introduce anothernucleic acid linked to it into a cell. One type of vector is a“plasmid,” which refers to a linear or circular double stranded DNAmolecule into which additional nucleic acid segments can be ligated.Another type of vector is a viral vector (e.g., replication defectiveretroviruses, adenoviruses and adeno-associated viruses), whereinadditional DNA segments can be introduced into the viral genome. Certainvectors are capable of autonomous replication in a host cell into whichthey are introduced (e.g., bacterial vectors comprising a bacterialorigin of replication and episomal mammalian vectors). Other vectors(e.g., non-episomal mammalian vectors) are integrated into the genome ofa host cell upon introduction into the host cell, and thereby arereplicated along with the host genome. An “expression vector” is a typeof vector that can direct the expression of a chosen polynucleotide.

A nucleotide sequence is “operably linked” to a regulatory sequence ifthe regulatory sequence affects the expression (e.g., the level, timing,or location of expression) of the nucleotide sequence. A “regulatorysequence” is a nucleic acid that affects the expression (e.g., thelevel, timing, or location of expression) of a nucleic acid to which itis operably linked. The regulatory sequence can, for example, exert itseffects directly on the regulated nucleic acid, or through the action ofone or more other molecules (e.g., polypeptides that bind to theregulatory sequence and/or the nucleic acid). Examples of regulatorysequences include promoters, enhancers and other expression controlelements (e.g., polyadenylation signals). Further examples of regulatorysequences are described in, for example, Goeddel, 1990, Gene ExpressionTechnology: Methods in Enzymology 185, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif.and Baron et al., 1995, Nucleic Acids Res. 23:3605-06.

A “host cell” is a cell that can be used to express a nucleic acid,e.g., a nucleic acid of the invention. A host cell can be a prokaryote,for example, E. coli, or it can be a eukaryote, for example, asingle-celled eukaryote (e.g., a yeast or other fungus), a plant cell(e.g., a tobacco or tomato plant cell), an animal cell (e.g., a humancell, a monkey cell, a hamster cell, a rat cell, a mouse cell, or aninsect cell) or a hybridoma. Typically, a host cell is a cultured cellthat can be transformed or transfected with a polypeptide-encodingnucleic acid, which can then be expressed in the host cell. The phrase“recombinant host cell” can be used to denote a host cell that has beentransformed or transfected with a nucleic acid to be expressed. A hostcell also can be a cell that comprises the nucleic acid but does notexpress it at a desired level unless a regulatory sequence is introducedinto the host cell such that it becomes operably linked with the nucleicacid. It is understood that the term host cell refers not only to theparticular subject cell but to the progeny or potential progeny of sucha cell. Because certain modifications may occur in succeedinggenerations due to, e.g., mutation or environmental influence, suchprogeny may not, in fact, be identical to the parent cell, but are stillincluded within the scope of the term as used herein.

Glucagon Receptors

The glucagon receptor (GCGR) belongs to the family of 7-transmembranereceptors that are coupled to one or more intracellular signallingpathways via heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (Gproteins) (Jelinek et al., Science 259: 1614-1616 (1993), Segre et al.,Trends Endocrinol. Metab 4:309-314 (1993)). As used herein, “glucagonreceptor” and “GCGR” are used interchangeably. Other members of thisgroup include receptors for secretin, glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1),vasoactive intestinal protein (VIP), and growth hormone releasingfactor. These receptors have similar structural features including arelatively large extracellular N-terminal domain, and a series oftransmembrane, intracellular and extracellular domains.

In one embodiment, the antigen binding agents of the present inventionmay be selected to bind to membrane-bound glucagon receptors asexpressed on cells, and inhibit or block glucagon signalling through theglucagon receptor. In one embodiment, the antigen binding agents of thepresent invention specifically bind to the human glucagon receptor. In afurther embodiment, the antigen binding proteins binding to the humanglucagon receptor may also bind to the glucagon receptors of otherspecies. The Examples below provide one method of generating fully humanantibodies which bind to human membrane-bound glucagon receptors, and ina further embodiment, bind to glucagon receptors of other species.

The polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences for several species ofglucagon receptor are known. Table 1 presents sequences for human,mouse, and rat. The cynomolgus glucagon receptor sequences areidentified herein and are presented below.

TABLE 1 Glucagon Receptors Human (Homo sapiens) polynucleotides (SEQ IDNO: 1) accession number BC104854    1 gtgcagcccc tgccagatgt gggaggcagctagctgccca gaggcatgcc cccctgccag   61 ccacagcgac ccctgctgct gttgctgctgctgctggcct gccagccaca ggtcccctcc  121 gctcaggtga tggacttcct gtttgagaagtggaagctct acggtgacca gtgtcaccac  181 aacctgagcc tgctgccccc tcccacggagctggtgtgca acagaacctt cgacaagtat  241 tcctgctggc cggacacccc cgccaataccacggccaaca tctcctgccc ctggtacctg  301 ccttggcacc acaaagtgca acaccgcttcgtgttcaaga gatgcgggcc cgacggtcag  361 tgggtgcgtg gaccccgggg gcagccttggcgtgatgcct cccagtgcca gatggatggc  421 gaggagattg aggtccagaa ggaggtggccaagatgtaca gcagcttcca ggtgatgtac  481 acagtgggct acagcctgtc cctgggggccctgctcctcg ccttggccat cctggggggc  541 ctcagcaagc tgcactgcac ccgcaatgccatccacgcga atctgtttgc gtccttcgtg  601 ctgaaagcca gctccgtgct ggtcattgatgggctgctca ggacccgcta cagccagaaa  661 attggcgacg acctcagtgt cagcacctggctcagtgatg gagcggtggc tggctgccgt  721 gtggccgcgg tgttcatgca atatggcatcgtggccaact actgctggct gctggtggag  781 ggcctgtacc tgcacaacct gctgggcctggccaccctcc ccgagaggag cttcttcagc  841 ctctacctgg gcatcggctg gggtgcccccatgctgttcg tcgtcccctg ggcagtggtc  901 aagtgtctgt tcgagaacgt ccagtgctggaccagcaatg acaacatggg cttctggtgg  961 atcctgcggt tccccgtctt cctggccatcctgatcaact tcttcatctt cgtccgcatc 1021 gttcagctgc tcgtggccaa gctgcgggcacggcagatgc accacacaga ctacaagttc 1081 cggctggcca agtccacgct gaccctcatccctctgctgg gcgtccacga agtggtcttc 1141 gccttcgtga cggacgagca cgcccagggcaccctgcgct ccgccaagct cttcttcgac 1201 ctcttcctca gctccttcca gggcctgctggtggctgtcc tctactgctt cctcaacaag 1261 gaggtgcagt cggagctgcg gcggcgttggcaccgctggc gcctgggcaa agtgctatgg 1321 gaggagcgga acaccagcaa ccacagggcctcatcttcgc ccggccacgg ccctcccagc 1381 aaggagctgc agtttgggag gggtggtggcagccaggatt catctgcgga gacccccttg 1441 gctggtggcc tccctagatt ggctgagagccccttctgaa ccctgctggg accccagcta 1501 gggctggact ctggcaccc Human (Homosapiens) amino acid (SEQ ID NO: 2) 477 aa; accession no. EAW89684 MetPro Pro Cys Gln Pro Gln Arg Pro Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Ala CysGln Pro Gln Val Pro Ser Ala Gln Val Met Asp Phe Leu Phe Glu Lys Trp LysLeu Tyr Gly Asp Gln Cys His His Asn Leu Ser Leu Leu Pro Pro Pro Thr GluLeu Val Cys Asn Arg Thr Phe Asp Lys Tyr Ser Cys Trp Pro Asp Thr Pro AlaAsn Thr Thr Ala Asn Ile Ser Cys Pro Trp Tyr Leu Pro Trp His His Lys ValGln His Arg Phe Val Phe Lys Arg Cys Gly Pro Asp Gly Gln Trp Val Arg GlyPro Arg Gly Gln Pro Trp Arg Asp Ala Ser Gln Cys Gln Met Asp Gly Glu GluIle Glu Val Gln Lys Glu Val Ala Lys Met Tyr Ser Ser Phe Gln Val Met TyrThr Val Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ser Leu Gly Ala Leu Leu Leu Ala Leu Ala Ile LeuGly Gly Leu Ser Lys Leu His Cys Thr Arg Asn Ala Ile His Ala Asn Leu PheAla Ser Phe Val Leu Lys Ala Ser Ser Val Leu Val Ile Asp Gly Leu Leu ArgThr Arg Tyr Ser Gln Lys Ile Gly Asp Asp Leu Ser Val Ser Thr Trp Leu SerAsp Gly Ala Val Ala Gly Cys Arg Val Ala Ala Val Phe Met Gln Tyr Gly IleVal Ala Asn Tyr Cys Trp Leu Leu Val Glu Gly Leu Tyr Leu His Asn Leu LeuGly Leu Ala Thr Leu Pro Glu Arg Ser Phe Phe Ser Leu Tyr Leu Gly Ile GlyTrp Gly Ala Pro Met Leu Phe Val Val Pro Trp Ala Val Val Lys Cys Leu PheGlu Asn Val Gln Cys Trp Thr Ser Asn Asp Asn Met Gly Phe Trp Trp Ile LeuArg Phe Pro Val Phe Leu Ala Ile Leu Ile Asn Phe Phe Ile Phe Val Arg IleVal Gln Leu Leu Val Ala Lys Leu Arg Ala Arg Gln Met His His Thr Asp TyrLys Phe Arg Leu Ala Lys Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu Ile Pro Leu Leu Gly Val HisGlu Val Val Phe Ala Phe Val Thr Asp Glu His Ala Gln Gly Thr Leu Arg SerAla Lys Leu Phe Phe Asp Leu Phe Leu Ser Ser Phe Gln Gly Leu Leu Val AlaVal Leu Tyr Cys Phe Leu Asn Lys Glu Val Gln Ser Glu Leu Arg Arg Arg TrpHis Arg Trp Arg Leu Gly Lys Val Leu Trp Glu Glu Arg Asn Thr Ser Asn HisArg Ala Ser Ser Ser Pro Gly His Gly Pro Pro Ser Lys Glu Leu Gln Phe GlyArg Gly Gly Gly Ser Gln Asp Ser Ser Ala Glu Thr Pro Leu Ala Gly Gly LeuPro Arg Leu Ala Glu Ser Pro Phe Mouse (Mus musculus) polynucleotide (SEQID NO: 3) accession number BC5057988    1 cgcgaggagc gcagccctagccccggcgac tgagcacacc tgaggagagg tgcacacact   61 ctgaggacct aggtgtgcaacctctgccag atgtggggcg tggctaccca gaggcatgcc  121 cctcacccag ctccactgtccccacctgct gctgctgctg ttggtgctgt catgtctgcc  181 agaggcaccc tctgcccaggtaatggactt tttgtttgag aagtggaagc tctatagtga  241 ccaatgccac cacaacctaagcctgctgcc cccacctact gagctggtct gtaacagaac  301 cttcgacaag tactcctgctggcctgacac ccctcccaac accactgcca acatttcctg  361 cccctggtac ctaccttggtaccacaaagt gcagcaccgc ctagtgttca agaggtgtgg  421 gcccgatggg cagtgggttcgagggccacg ggggcagccg tggcgcaacg cctcccaatg  481 tcagttggat gatgaagagatcgaggtcca gaagggggtg gccaagatgt atagcagcca  541 gcaggtgatg tacaccgtgggctacagtct gtccctgggg gccttgctcc ttgcgctggt  601 catcctgctg ggcctcaggaagctgcactg cacccgaaac tacatccatg ggaacctgtt  661 tgcgtccttt gtgctcaaggctggctctgt gttggtcatc gattggctgc tgaagacacg  721 gtacagccag aagattggcgatgacctcag tgtgagcgtc tggctcagtg acggggcgat  781 ggccggctgc agagtggccacagtgatcat gcagtacggc atcatagcca actattgctg  841 gttgctggta gagggcgtgtacctgtacag cctgctgagc cttgccacct tctctgagag  901 gagcttcttt tccctctacctgggcattgg ctggggtgcg cccctgctgt ttgtcatccc  961 ctgggtggtg gtcaagtgtctgtttgagaa tgttcagtgc tggaccagca atgacaacat 1021 gggattctgg tggatcctgcgtattcctgt cttcctggcc ttactgatca attttttcat 1081 ctttgtccac atcattcaccttcttgtggc caagctgcgt gcccatcaga tgcactatgc 1141 tgactataag ttccggctggccaggtccac gctgaccctc atccctctgc tgggggtcca 1201 cgaggtggtc tttgcctttgtgactgacga gcatgcccaa ggcaccctgc gctccaccaa 1261 gctctttttt gacctgttcctcagctcctt ccagggtctg ctggtggctg ttctctactg 1321 tttcctcaac aaggaggtgcaggcagagct gatgcggcgt tggaggcaat ggcaagaagg 1381 caaagctctt caggaggaaaggttggccag cagccatggc agccacatgg ccccagcagg 1441 gccttgtcat ggtgatccctgtgagaaact tcagcttatg agtgcaggca gcagcagtgg 1501 gactggctgt gtgccctctatggagacctc gctggccagt agtctcccaa ggttggctga 1561 cagccccacc tgaatctccactggagccta gccaggctgc gttcagaaag ggcctcagag 1621 gacaacccag agccagatgcccggccaagg ctgaagagac aaagcagcaa gacagcagct 1681 tgtactgtgc acactcccctaacctgtcct agcctggcac aggccacagt gacagagtag 1741 gggttggata tgatggagaagccatgttat ctatgaactc tgagtgttcc catgtgtgtt 1801 gacatggtcc ctgtacccagatatgtcctt cagtaaaaag ctcgagtggg agctgctgca 1861 caaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaMouse (Mus musculus) amino acid (SEQ ID NO: 4) 485 aa accession numberAAH57988 Met Pro Leu Thr Gln Leu His Cys Pro His Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu LeuVal Leu Ser Cys Leu Pro Glu Ala Pro Ser Ala Gln Val Met Asp Phe Leu PheGlu Lys Trp Lys Leu Tyr Ser Asp Gln Cys His His Asn Leu Ser Leu Leu ProPro Pro Thr Glu Leu Val Cys Asn Arg Thr Phe Asp Lys Tyr Ser Cys Trp ProAsp Thr Pro Pro Asn Thr Thr Ala Asn Ile Ser Cys Pro Trp Tyr Leu Pro TrpTyr His Lys Val Gln His Arg Leu Val Phe Lys Arg Cys Gly Pro Asp Gly GlnTrp Val Arg Gly Pro Arg Gly Gln Pro Trp Arg Asn Ala Ser Gln Cys Gln LeuAsp Asp Glu Glu Ile Glu Val Gln Lys Gly Val Ala Lys Met Tyr Ser Ser GlnGln Val Met Tyr Thr Val Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ser Leu Gly Ala Leu Leu Leu AlaLeu Val Ile Leu Leu Gly Leu Arg Lys Leu His Cys Thr Arg Asn Tyr Ile HisGly AsnLeu Phe Ala Ser Phe Val Leu Lys Ala Gly Ser Val Leu Val Ile AspTrp Leu Leu Lys Thr Arg Tyr Ser Gln Lys Ile Gly Asp Asp Leu Ser Val SerVal Trp Leu Ser Asp Gly Ala Met Ala Gly Cys Arg Val Ala Thr Val Ile MetGln Tyr Gly Ile Ile Ala Asn Tyr Cys Trp Leu Leu Val Glu Gly Val Tyr LeuTyr Ser Leu Leu Ser Leu Ala Thr Phe Ser Glu Arg Ser Phe Phe Ser Leu TyrLeu GlyIle Gly Trp Gly Ala Pro Leu Leu Phe Val Ile Pro Trp Val Val ValLys Cys Leu Phe Glu Asn Val Gln Cys Trp Thr Ser Asn Asp Asn Met Gly PheTrp Trp Ile Leu Arg Ile Pro Val Phe Leu Ala Leu Leu Ile Asn Phe Phe IlePhe Val His Ile Ile His Leu Leu Val Ala Lys Leu Arg Ala His Gln Met HisTyr Ala Asp Tyr Lys Phe Arg Leu Ala Arg Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu Ile Pro LeuLeu GlyVal His Glu Val Val Phe Ala Phe Val Thr Asp Glu His Ala Gln GlyThr Leu Arg Ser Thr Lys Leu Phe Phe Asp Leu Phe Leu Ser Ser Phe Gln GlyLeu Leu Val Ala Val Leu Tyr Cys Phe Leu Asn Lys Glu Val Gln Ala Glu LeuMet Arg Arg Trp Arg Gln Trp Gln Glu Gly Lys Ala Leu Gln Glu Glu Arg LeuAla Ser Ser His Gly Ser His Met Ala Pro Ala Gly Pro Cys His Gly Asp ProCys GluLys Leu Gln Leu Met Ser Ala Gly Ser Ser Ser Gly Thr Gly Cys ValPro Ser Met Glu Thr Ser Leu Ala Ser Ser Leu Pro Arg Leu Ala Asp Ser ProThr Rat (Rattus norvegicus) polynucleotide (SEQ ID NO: 5) accession no.NM 172092    1 gaattcgcgg ccgccgccgg gccccagatc ccagtgcgcg aggagcccagtcctagaccc   61 agcaacctga ggagaggtgc acacaccccc aaggacccag gcacccaacctctgccagat  121 gtgggggggt ggctacccag aggcatgctc ctcacccagc tccactgtccctacctgctg  181 ctgctgctgg tggtgctgtc atgtctgcca aaggcaccct ctgcccaggtaatggacttt  241 ttgtttgaga agtggaagct ctatagtgac cagtgccacc acaacctaagcctgctgccc  301 ccacctactg agctggtctg caacagaact ttcgacaagt actcctgctggcctgacacc  361 cctcccaaca ccactgccaa catttcctgc ccctggtacc taccttggtaccacaaagtg  421 cagcaccgcc tagtgttcaa gaggtgtggg cctgatgggc agtgggttcgagggccacgg  481 gggcagtcat ggcgcgacgc ctcccaatgt cagatggatg atgacgagatcgaggtccag  541 aagggggtag ccaagatgta tagcagctac caggtgatgt acactgtgggctacagtctg  601 tccctggggg ccttgctcct ggcgctggtc atcctgctgg gcctcaggaagctgcactgc  661 acccggaact acatccacgg gaacctgttc gcgtccttcg tgctcaaggctggctctgtg  721 ctggtcattg attggctgct caagacacgc tatagccaga agattggagatgacctcagt  781 gtgagcgtct ggctcagtga tggggcggtg gctggctgca gagtggccacagtgatcatg  841 cagtacggca tcatagccaa ctactgctgg ttgctggtgg agggtgtgtacctgtacagc  901 ctgctgagca tcaccacctt ctcggagaag agcttcttct ccctctatctgtgcatcggc  961 tggggatctc ccctgctgtt tgtcatcccc tgggtggtgg tcaagtgtctgtttgagaat 1021 gtccagtgct ggaccagcaa tgacaatatg ggattctggt ggatcctgcgtatccctgta 1081 ctcctggcca tactgatcaa ttttttcatc tttgtccgca tcattcatcttcttgtggcc 1141 aagctgcgtg cccatcagat gcactatgct gattacaagt tccggctagccaggtccacg 1201 ctgaccctca ttcctctgct gggagtccac gaagtggtct ttgcctttgtgactgatgag 1261 catgcccagg gcaccctgcg ctccaccaag ctcttttttg acctgttcttcagctccttt 1321 cagggtctgc tggtggctgt tctctactgt ttcctcaaca aggaggtgcaggcagagcta 1381 ctgcggcgtt ggaggcgatg gcaagaaggc aaagctcttc aggaggaaaggatggccagc 1441 agccatggca gccacatggc cccagcaggg acttgtcatg gtgatccctgtgagaaactt 1501 cagcttatga gtgcaggcag cagcagtggg actggctgtg agccctctgcgaagacctca 1561 ttggccagta gtctcccaag gctggctgac agccccacct gaatctccactggactccag 1621 ccaagttgga ttcagaaagg gcctcacaag acaacccaga aacagatgcctggccaaggc 1681 tgaagaggca aagcagcaag acagcagctt gtactatcca cactcccctaacctgtcctg 1741 gccgggtaca ggccacattg atggagtagg ggctggatat gatggagtagccatgctatg 1801 aactatgggt gttcccatga gtgttgccat gttccatgca cacagatatgaccttcagta 1861 aagagctccc gtagg Rat (Rattus norvegicus) amino acid (SEQID NO: 6) 489 aa, accession no. NM 172092 Met Leu Leu Thr Gln Leu HisCys Pro TyrLeu Leu Leu Leu Leu Val Val Leu Ser Cys Leu Pro Lys Ala ProSer Ala Gln Val Met Asp Phe Leu Phe Glu Lys Trp Lys Leu Tyr Ser Asp GlnCys His His Asn Leu Ser Leu Leu Pro Pro Pro Thr Glu Leu Val Cys Asn ArgThr Phe Asp Lys Tyr Ser Cys Trp Pro Asp Thr Pro Pro Asn Thr Thr Ala AsnIle Ser Cys Pro Trp Tyr Leu Pro Trp Tyr His Lys Val Gln His Arg Leu ValPhe Lys Arg Cys Gly Pro Asp Gly Gln Trp Val Arg Gly Pro Arg Gly Gln SerTrp Arg Asp Ala Ser Gln Cys Gln Met Asp Asp Asp Glu Ile Glu Val Gln LysGly Val Ala Lys Met Tyr Ser Ser Tyr Gln Val Met Tyr Thr Val Gly Tyr SerLeu Ser Leu Gly Ala Leu Leu Leu Ala Leu Val Ile Leu Leu Gly Leu Arg LysLeu His Cys Thr Arg Asn Tyr Ile His Gly Asn Leu Phe Ala Ser Phe Val LeuLys Ala Gly Ser Val Leu Val Ile Asp Trp Leu Leu Lys Thr Arg Tyr Ser GlnLys Ile Gly Asp Asp Leu Ser Val Ser Val Trp Leu Ser Asp Gly Ala Val AlaGly Cys Arg Val Ala Thr Val Ile Met Gln Tyr Gly Ile Ile Ala Asn Tyr CysTrp Leu Leu Val Glu Gly Val Tyr Leu Tyr Ser Leu Leu Ser Ile Thr Thr PheSer Glu Lys Ser Phe Phe Ser Leu Tyr Leu Cys Ile Gly Trp Gly Ser Pro LeuLeu Phe Val Ile Pro Trp Val Val Val Lys Cys Leu Phe Glu Asn Val Gln CysTrp Thr Ser Asn Asp Asn Met Gly Phe Trp Trp Ile Leu Arg Ile Pro Val LeuLeu Ala Ile Leu Ile Asn Phe Phe Ile Phe Val Arg Ile Ile His Leu Leu ValAla Lys Leu Arg Ala His Gln Met His Tyr Ala Asp Tyr Lys Phe Arg Leu AlaArg Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu Ile Pro Leu Leu Gly Val His Glu Val Val Phe AlaPhe Val Thr Asp Glu His Ala Gln Gly Thr Leu Arg Ser Thr Lys Leu Phe PheAsp Leu Phe Phe Ser Ser Phe Gln Gly Leu Leu Val Ala Val Leu Tyr Cys PheLeu Asn Lys Glu Val Gln Ala Glu Leu Leu Arg Arg Trp Arg Arg Trp Gln GluGly Lys Ala Leu Gln Glu Glu Arg Met Ala Ser Ser His Gly Ser His Met AlaPro Ala Gly Thr Cys His Gly Asp Pro Cys Glu Lys Leu Gln Leu Met Ser AlaGly Ser Ser Ser Gly Thr Gly Cys Glu Pro Ser Ala Lys Thr Ser Leu Ala SerSer Leu Pro Arg Leu Ala Asp Ser Pro Thr Cynomolgus (Macaca fascicularis)polynucleotides 1434 bp (SEQ ID NO: 7)atgcccccctgtcagccacgtcgacccctgctactgttgctgctgctgctggcctgccagccacaggccccctccgctcaggtgatggacttcctgtttgagaagtggaaactctacggtgaccagtgtcaccacaacctgagcctgctgcccccccccacggagctggtctgtaacagaaccttcgacaagtattcctgctggccagacacccccgccaataccacagccaacatctcctgcccctggtacctgccttggcaccacaaagtgcaacaccgcttcgtgttcaagagatgcgggcccgatggtcagtgggtgcgtggaccccgggggcagccttggcgtgacgcctctcagtgccagatggacggcgaggagcttgaggtccagaaggaggtggctaagatgtacagcagcttccaggtgatgtacacggtgggctacagcctgtccctgggggccctgctcctcgccttggccatcctggggggcatcagcaagctgcactgcacccgcaacgccatccacgcgaacctgtttgtgtccttcgtgctgaaggccagctccgtgctggtcatcgatgggctgctcaggacccgctacagccagaagattggcgacgacctcagtgtcagcatctggctcagtgatggagcggtggccggctgccgtgtggccgcggtgttcatgcaatatggcgtcgtggccaactactgctggctgctggtggagggcctgtacctgcacaacctgctgggcctggccaccctccctgagaggagcttcttcagcctctacctgggcatcggctggggtgcccccatgctgttcatcatcccctgggtggtggtcaggtgtctgttcgagaacatccagtgctggaccagcaatgacaacatgggcttctggtggatcctgcggttccccgtcttcctggccatcctgatcaacttcttcatcttcatccgcattgttcacctgcttgtggccaagctgcgggcgcgggagatgcaccacacagactacaagttccgactggccaagtccacactgaccctcatccccctgctgggtgtccacgaagtgatcttcgccttcgtgacggacgagcacgcccagggcaccctgcgcttcgccaagctcttcttcgacctcttcctcagctccttccagggcctgctggtggctgtcctctactgcttcctcaacaaggaggtgcagtcggaacttcggcggcattggcaccgctggcgcctgggcaaagtgctgcaggaggagcggggcaccagcaaccacaagaccccatctgcgcctggccaaggccttcctggcaagaagctgcagtctgggaggggtggtggcagccaggactcatctgcggagatccccttggctggtggcctccctaggttggctgagagccccttctgaCynomolgus (Macaca fascicularis) amino acids (SEQ ID NO: 8) 478 aa MetPro Pro Cys Gln Pro Arg Arg Pro Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Ala CysGln Pro Gln Ala Pro Ser Ala Gln Val Met Asp Phe Leu Phe Glu Lys Trp LysLeu Tyr Gly Asp Gln Cys His His Asn Leu Ser Leu Leu Pro Pro Pro Thr GluLeu Val Cys Asn Arg Thr Phe Asp Lys Tyr Ser Cys Trp Pro AspThr Pro AlaAsn Thr Thr Ala Asn Ile Ser Cys Pro Trp Tyr Leu Pro Trp His His LysValGln His Arg Phe Val Phe Lys Arg Cys Gly Pro Asp Gly Gln Trp Val Arg GlyProArg Gly Gln Pro Trp Arg Asp Ala Ser Gln Cys Gln Met Asp Gly Glu GluLeu Glu ValGln Lys Glu Val Ala Lys Met Tyr Ser Ser Phe Gln Val Met TyrThr Val Gly Tyr SerLeu Ser Leu Gly Ala Leu Leu Leu Ala Leu Ala Ile LeuGly Gly Ile Ser Lys Leu His Cys Thr Arg Asn Ala Ile His Ala Asn Leu PheVal Ser Phe Val Leu Lys Ala Ser SerVal Leu Val Ile Asp Gly Leu Leu ArgThr Arg Tyr Ser Gln Lys Ile Gly Asp Asp Leu Ser Val Ser Ile Trp Leu SerAsp Gly Ala Val Ala Gly Cys Arg Val Ala Ala Val Phe Met Gln Tyr Gly ValVal Ala Asn Tyr Cys Trp Leu Leu Val Glu Gly Leu Tyr Leu His Asn Leu LeuGly Leu Ala Thr Leu Pro Glu Arg Ser Phe Phe Ser Leu Tyr Leu Gly Ile GlyTrp Gly Ala Pro Met Leu Phe Ile Ile Pro Trp Val Val Val Arg Cys Leu PheGlu Asn Ile Gln Cys Trp Thr Ser Asn Asp Asn Met Gly Phe Trp Trp Ile LeuArg Phe Pro Val Phe Leu Ala Ile Leu Ile Asn Phe Phe Ile Phe Ile Arg IleVal His Leu Leu Val Ala Lys Leu Arg Ala Arg Glu Met His His Thr Asp TyrLys Phe Arg Leu Ala Lys Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu Ile Pro Leu Leu Gly Val HisGlu Val Ile Phe Ala Phe Val Thr Asp Glu His Ala Gln Gly Thr Leu Arg PheAla Lys Leu Phe Phe Asp Leu Phe Leu Ser Ser Phe Gln Gly Leu Leu Val AlaVal Leu Tyr Cys Phe Leu Asn Lys Glu Val Gln Ser Glu Leu Arg Arg His TrpHis Arg Trp Arg Leu Gly Lys Val Leu Gln Glu Glu Arg Gly Thr Ser Asn HisLys Thr Pro Ser Ala Pro Gly Gln Gly Leu Pro Gly Lys Lys Leu Gln Ser GlyArg Gly Gly Gly Ser Gln Asp Ser Ser Ala Glu Ile Pro Leu Ala Gly Gly LeuPro Arg Leu Ala Glu Ser Pro PheAntigen Binding Proteins

In one aspect, the present invention provides antigen binding proteins(e.g., antibodies, antibody fragments, antibody derivatives, antibodymuteins, and antibody variants), that specifically bind to the humanglucagon receptor. In one embodiment the antigen binding protein is ahuman antibody.

Antigen binding proteins in accordance with the present inventioninclude antigen binding proteins that specifically bind to the humanglucagon receptor and inhibit glucagon signalling through the glucagonreceptor. In one embodiment, the IC50 value of the antigen bindingprotein is 90 nM or less. In another aspect, the antigen bindingproteins specifically bind the glucagon receptor, inhibit signalling,and exhibit therapeutic biological effects, such as lowering bloodglucose in animal models, or improving glucose clearance (tolerance) inanimal models. In one embodiment, the antigen binding proteins are humanantibodies that specifically bind the glucagon receptor, and inhibitsignalling through the glucagon receptor. In another embodiment, theantigen binding proteins are human antibodies that specifically bind tothe human glucagon receptor, inhibit signalling through the glucagonreceptor, and are capable of lowering blood glucose or improving glucoseclearance (tolerance) in animal models.

In one embodiment, the antigen binding protein (e.g., antibody)comprises sequences that each independently differ by 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or0 single amino acid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions from aCDR sequence of A1-A23 in Table 2 below. As used herein, a CDR sequencethat differs by no more than a total of, for example, four amino acidadditions, substitutions and/or deletions from a CDR sequence shown inTable 2 below refers to a sequence with 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 single aminoacid additions, substitutions, and/or deletions compared with thesequences shown in Table 2.

In another embodiment, the antigen binding protein comprises one or moreCDR consensus sequences shown below. Consensus sequences are providedfor light chain CDR1, CDR2, CDR3, and heavy chain CDR1, CDR2, and CDR3below.

The light chain CDRs of antigen binding proteins (antibodies) A1-A23 andthe heavy chain CDRs of exemplary antigen binding proteins (antibodies)A1-A23 are shown below in Table 2. A-1 to A-23 corresponds to L1 to L23below, and H1 to H23 below. Also shown are polynucleotide sequenceswhich encode the amino acid sequences of the CDRs.

TABLE 2 Ab CDR 1 CDR 2 CDR 3 LIGHT CHAINS L1 to L23 A-1aggtctagtcagagcctcttggatagag Acgctttcctatcgggcctct atgcaacgtatagagtttcNA atgatggagacacctatttggac (SEQ ID NO: 42) cattcact (SEQ ID NO: 9) (SEQID NO: 71) AA RSSQSLLDRDDGDTYLD TLSYRAS MQRIEFPFT (SEQ ID NO: 10) (SEQID NO: 43) (SEQ ID NO: 72) A-2 aggtctagtcagagcctcttggatagtgcacgctttcctatcgggcctct atgcaacgtatagagtttc NA tgatggagacacctatttggac (SEQID NO: 42) cattcact (SEQ ID NO: 11) (SEQ ID NO: 71) AA RSSQSLLDSADGDTYLDTLSYRAS MQRIEFPFT (SEQ ID NO: 12) (SEQ ID NO: 43) (SEQ ID NO: 72) A-3cgggcaagtcagggcattagaaatgatt gctgcatccagtttgcaaagt ctacagcataatagtaaccNA taggc (SEQ ID NO: 44) ctctcact (SEQ ID NO: 13) (SEQ ID NO: 73) AARASQGIRNDLG AASSLQS LQHNSNPLT (SEQ ID NO: 14) (SEQ ID NO: 45) (SEQ IDNO: 74) A-4 cgggcaagtcagggcattagaaatgatt gctgcatccagtttgcaaagtctacagcataatagtaacc NA taggc (SEQ ID NO: 44) ctctcact (SEQ ID NO: 13)(SEQ ID NO: 73) AA RASQGIRNDLG AASSLQS LQHNSNPLT (SEQ ID NO: 14) (SEQ IDNO: 45) (SEQ ID NO: 74) A-5 cgggcaagtcagggcattagaaatgattgctgcctccagtttgcaaagt ctacagcataatagtgacc NA taggc (SEQ ID NO: 46)cgctcacc (SEQ ID NO: 13) (SEQ ID NO: 75) AA RASQGIRNDLG AASSLQSLQHNSDPLT (SEQ ID NO: 14) (SEQ ID NO: 45) (SEQ ID NO: 76) A-6agggccagtcagagtgttagcagcaac ggtgcatccagcagggccact caacaatatggtaactcac NAtacttagcc (SEQ ID NO: 47) cattcact (SEQ ID NO: 15) (SEQ ID NO: 77) AARASQSVSSNYLA GASSRAT QQYGNSPFT (SEQ ID NO: 16) (SEQ ID NO: 48) (SEQ IDNO: 78) A-7 cgggcaagtcaggacattagaaatgatt gctgcatccagtttacaaagtctacagcaaaatagttacc NA ttggc (SEQ ID NO: 44) cgctcact (SEQ ID NO: 17)(SEQ ID NO: 79) AA RASQDIRNDFG AASSLQS LQQNSYPLT (SEQ ID NO: 18) (SEQ IDNO: 45) (SEQ ID NO: 80) A-8 gggtctactcagagcctcttggatagtgaacgctttcctatcgggcctct atgcaacgtatagagtttc NA tgatggagacacctatttggac (SEQID NO: 42) cattcact (SEQ ID NO: 19) (SEQ ID NO: 71) AA RSTQSLLDSDDGDTYLDTLSYRAS MQRIEFPFT (SEQ ID NO: 20) (SEQ ID NO: 43) (SEQ ID NO: 72) A-9cgggcaagtcagggcattagaaatgatt gctgcatccagtttggaaagt ctacagcataatagtaaccNA taggc (SEQ ID NO: 49) ctctcact (SEQ ID NO: 13) (SEQ ID NO: 73) AARASQGIRNDLG AASSLES LQHNSNPLT (SEQ ID NO: 14) (SEQ ID NO: 50) (SEQ IDNO: 74) A-10 caggcgagtcaggacattagtaagtattt gatgcatccaatttggaaacacaacagtatggtaatctcc NA aaat (SEQ ID NO: 51) cgatcacc (SEQ ID NO: 21)(SEQ ID NO: 75) AA QASQDISKYLN DASNLET QQYGNLPIT (SEQ ID NO: 22) (SEQ IDNO: 52) (SEQ ID NO: 76) A-11 tctggagataaattgggggataaatatgtcaaacttccaagcggccctca caggcgtgggacagcaa NA ttgc (SEQ ID NO: 53)cactgtgatt (SEQ ID NO: 23) (SEQ ID NO: 77) AA SGDKLGDKYVC QTSKRPSQAWDSNTVI (SEQ ID NO: 24) (SEQ ID NO: 54) (SEQ ID NO: 78) A-12tctggagataaattgggggataaatatgt caaacttccaagcggccctca caggcgtgggacagcag NAttgc (SEQ ID NO: 53) cactgtggtt (SEQ ID NO: 23) (SEQ ID NO: 79) AASGDKLGDKYVC QTSKRPS QAWDSSTVV (SEQ ID NO: 24) (SEQ ID NO: 54) (SEQ IDNO: 80) A-13 tctggagataaattgggggataaatatgc caatctaccaagcggccctcacaggcgtgggacagcag NA ttgc (SEQ ID NO: 55) cactgtggta (SEQ ID NO: 25)(SEQ ID NO: 81) AA SGDKLGDKYAC QSTKRPS QAWDSSTVV (SEQ ID NO: 26) (SEQ IDNO: 56) (SEQ ID NO: 80) A-14 acccgcagcagtggcagcattgtcagcgaggataaccaaagaccctct cagtcttatgataccagca NA aactttgtgcaa (SEQ ID NO:57) atcaggtg (SEQ ID NO: 27) (SEQ ID NO: 82) AA TRSSGSIVSNFVQ EDNQRPSQSYDTSNQV (SEQ ID NO: 28) (SEQ ID NO: 58) (SEQ ID NO: 83) A-15actggaatcacctccaacatcggaagca agtaataatcagcggccctca gcagcatgggatgacag NAatactgtacac (SEQ ID NO: 59) cctgaatggtccggtg (SEQ ID NO: 29) (SEQ ID NO:84) AA TGITSNIGSNTVH SNNQRPS AAWDDSLNGPV (SEQ ID NO: 30) (SEQ ID NO: 60)(SEQ ID NO: 85) A-16 tctggaagcaggtccaacatcggaagta aggaataatcagcggccctcagcagcatgggatgacag NA attatgtatac (SEQ ID NO: 61) cctgagtaggccggta (SEQID NO: 31) (SEQ ID NO: 86) AA SGSRSNIGSNYVY RNNQRPS AAWDDSLSRPV (SEQ IDNO: 32) (SEQ ID NO: 62) (SEQ ID NO: 87) A-17 actgggagcagctccaacatcggggcagataacaacaatcggccctca cagtcctatgacagcagc NA ggttatgctgtacac (SEQ ID NO:63) ctgagtgctata (SEQ ID NO: 33) (SEQ ID NO: 88) AA TGSSSNIGAGYAVHDNNNRP QSYDSSLSAI (SEQ ID NO: 34) (SEQ ID NO: 64) (SEQ ID NO: 89) A-18aagtctagtcagagcctcctgcatagtg gaagtttcctaccggttctct atgcaaaatatacagcctcNA atggaaagaactatttgttt (SEQ ID NO: 65) ctctcacc (SEQ ID NO: 35) (SEQ IDNO: 90) AA KSSQSLLHSDGKNYLF EVSYRFS MQNIQPPLT (SEQ ID NO: 36) (SEQ IDNO: 66) (SEQ ID NO: 91) A-19 aggtctagtcagagcctcctgcatagtattgggttctaatcgggcctcc atggaagctcttcaaacta NA atggatacaactatttggat (SEQID NO: 67) tgtgcagt (SEQ ID NO: 37) (SEQ ID NO: 92) AA RSSQSLLHSNGYNYLDLGSNRAS MEALQTMCS (SEQ ID NO: 38) (SEQ ID NO: 68) (SEQ ID NO: 93) A-20cgggcaagtcagggcattagaaatgatt gctgcatccagtttgcaaagt ctacagcataatagttaccNA taggc (SEQ ID NO: 44) ctcgcagt (SEQ ID NO: 39) (SEQ ID NO: 94) AARASQGIRNDLG AASSLQS LQHNSYPRS (SEQ ID NO: 14) (SEQ ID NO: 45) (SEQ IDNO: 95) A-21 cgggcgagtcagggtattagcagctgg gctgcatccagtttgcaaagtcaacaggctaacagtttcc NA ttagcc (SEQ ID NO: 44) cgctcact (SEQ ID NO: 40)(SEQ ID NO: 96) AA RASQGISSWLA AASSLQS QQANSFPLT (SEQ ID NO: 41) (SEQ IDNO: 45) (SEQ ID NO: 97) A-22 aggtctagtcagagcctcttggatagagacgctttcctatcgggcctct atgcaacgtatagagtttc NA atgatggagacacctatttggac(SEQ ID NO: 42) cattcactt (SEQ ID NO: 9) (SEQ ID NO: 98) AARSSQSLLDRDDGDTYLD TLSYRAS MQRIEFPFT (SEQ ID NO: 10) (SEQ ID NO: 43) (SEQID NO: 72) A-23 cgggcgagtcagggtattagcagctgg actgcatccactttgcaaagtcaacagtctaacagtttcc NA ttagcc (SEQ ID NO: 69) cgctcact (SEQ ID NO: 40)(SEQ ID NO: 99) AA RASQGISSWLA TASTLQS QQSNSFPLT (SEQ ID NO: 41) (SEQ IDNO: 70) (SEQ ID NO: 100) HEAVY CHAINS H1 to H23 A-1 agctatggcatgcactctatatggtatgatggaagtaataaatatt cttggtggtggttttgactac NA (SEQ ID NO:101) atgtagactccgtgaagggc (SEQ ID NO: 164) (SEQ ID NO: 123) AA SYGMHSIWYDGSNKYYVDSVKG LGGGFDY (SEQ ID NO: 102) (SEQ ID NO: 124) (SEQ ID NO:165) A-2 agctatggcatgcac tttatatggtatgatggaagtgaaaaatatatgggaggcggctttgactac NA (SEQ ID NO: 101) tatgtagactccgtgaagggc (SEQ IDNO: 166) (SEQ ID NO: 125) AA SYGMH FIWYDGSEKYYVDSVKG MGGGFDY (SEQ ID NO:102) (SEQ ID NO: 126) (SEQ ID NO: 167) A-3 agctatggcatgcacgttatgtggtatgatggaagtaataaaga gaaaaagatcattacgacattttgactggttata NA (SEQID NO: 101) ctatgtagactccgtgaagggc actactactacggtctggacgtc (SEQ ID NO:127) (SEQ ID NO: 168) AA SYGMH VMWYDGSNKDYVDSVK EKDHYDILTGYNYYYGLDV (SEQID NO: 102) G (SEQ ID NO: 169) (SEQ ID NO: 128) A-4 agctatggcatgcacgttatgtggtatgatggaagtaataaaga gaaaaagatcattacgacattttgactggttata NA (SEQID NO: 101) ctatgtagactccgtgaagggc actactactacggtctggacgtc (SEQ ID NO:127) (SEQ ID NO: 168) AA SYGMH VMWYDGSNKDYVDSVK EKDHYDILTGYNYYYGLDV (SEQID NO: 102) G (SEQ ID NO: 169) (SEQ ID NO: 128) A-5 acctatgggatgcacgttatatcagatgatggaagtcataaata gaggagacgtattacgatattttgactggctat NA (SEQID NO: 103) ctctgcagactccgtgaagggc catcactactacggtatggacgtc (SEQ ID NO:129) (SEQ ID NO: 170) AA TYGMH VISDDGSHKYSADSVKG EETYYDILTGYHHYYGMDV(SEQ ID NO: 104) (SEQ ID NO: 130) (SEQ ID NO: 171) A-6 agctatggcatgcacgaaatatggaatgatggaagtaataaata gagcctcagtattacgatattttgactggttatg NA (SEQID NO: 101) ctatgcagactccgtgaagggc ataactactacggtatggacgtc (SEQ ID NO:131) (SEQ ID NO: 172) AA SYGMH EIWNDGSNKYYADSVKG EPQYYDlLTGYDNYYGMDV(SEQ ID NO: 102) (SEQ ID NO: 132) (SEQ ID NO: 173) A-7 agctatggcatgcacgtgatatcacatgatggaagtgataaata gaaaaaccgtattacgatattttgactggttattt NA(SEQ ID NO: 105) ctatgcagactccgtgaagggc ctactactatggtatggacgtc (SEQ IDNO: 133) (SEQ ID NO: 174) AA SYDMH VISHDGSDKYYADSVKG EKPYYDILTGYFYYYGMDV(SEQ ID NO: 106) (SEQ ID NO: 134) (SEQ ID NO: 175) A-8 agctatggcatgcacggtatatggtatgatggaaggaataaata ttagcagtggcctttgactac NA (SEQ ID NO: 101)ctatgtagactccgtgaagggc (SEQ ID NO: 176) (SEQ ID NO: 135) AA SYGMHGIWYDGRNKYYVDSVKG LAVAFDY (SEQ ID NO: 102) (SEQ ID NO: 136) (SEQ ID NO:177) A-9 agctatggcatgcac gttatgtggtatgatggaagtaataaagagaaaaagatcattacgacattttgactggttata NA (SEQ ID NO: 101)ctatgtagactccgtgaagggc actactactacggtctggacgtc (SEQ ID NO: 127) (SEQ IDNO: 168) AA SYGMH VMWYDGSNKDYVDSVK EKDHYDILTGYNYYYGLDV (SEQ ID NO: 102)G (SEQ ID NO: 169) (SEQ ID NO: 128) A-10 agcaactatgctgcttggaaggacatactacaggtccaagtggtata gaagatggcagtggctggtacggtgcttttga NA acatgattatgcagtatctgtgagaagt catc (SEQ ID NO: 107) (SEQ ID NO: 137) (SEQID NO: 178) AA SNYAAWN RTYYRSKWYNDYAVSVR EDGSGWYGAFDI (SEQ ID NO: 108) S(SEQ ID NO: 179) (SEQ ID NO: 138) A-11 agctatgacatgcactttatatcagatgatggaagtaataaatac gatcaatacgatattttgactggttattcttctgat NA(SEQ ID NO: 109) tatggagactccgtgaagggc gcttttgatatc (SEQ ID NO: 139)(SEQ ID NO: 180) AA SYDMH FISDDGSNKYYGDSVKG DQYDILTGYSSDAFDI (SEQ ID NO:106) (SEQ ID NO: 140) (SEQ ID NO: 181) A-12 agctatgacatgcactttatatcagatgatggaagtaataaatatt gatcaatacgatattttgactggttattcttctgat NA(SEQ ID NO: 109) atggagactccgtgaagggc gcttttgatatc (SEQ ID NO: 141) (SEQID NO: 180) AA SYDMH FISDDGSNKYYGDSVKG DQYDILTGYSSDAFDI (SEQ ID NO: 106)(SEQ ID NO: 140) (SEQ ID NO: 181) A-13 agctatgacatgcacgttatatcatatgatggaagtaataaatac gatcaatacgatattttgactggttattcttctgat NA(SEQ ID NO: 109) tatggagactccgtgaagggc gcttttgatatc (SEQ ID NO: 142)(SEQ ID NO: 180) AA SYDMH VISYDGSNKYYGDSVKG DQYDILTGYSSDAFDI (SEQ ID NO:106) (SEQ ID NO: 143) (SEQ ID NO: 181) A-14 aactatggcatgcacgttatatggtatgatggaagtaataaatac gcctattacgatattttgactgattacccccagt NA(SEQ ID NO: 110) tatgcagactccgtgaagggc atgactactactacggtatggacgtc (SEQID NO: 144) (SEQ ID NO: 182) AA NYGMH VIWYDGSNKYYADSVKGAYYDILTDYPQYDYYYGMD (SEQ ID NO: 111) (SEQ ID NO: 145) V (SEQ ID NO: 183)A-15 agctatggcatgcac cttatatcatttgatggaagtaataaatactgatgggtattacgatattttgactggttatgagg NA (SEQ ID NO: 101)atgcagactccgtgaagggc atgatgcttttgatatc (SEQ ID NO: 146) (SEQ ID NO: 184)AA SYGMH LISFDGSNKYYADSVKG DGYYDILTGYEDDAFDI (SEQ ID NO: 102) (SEQ IDNO: 147) (SEQ ID NO: 185) A-16 ggctactatttgcactggatcatccctgacagtggtggcacaa gaagggtttcattacgatattttgactggttccta NA (SEQID NO: 112) agtatgcacagaagtttcagggc cttctactactacggtatggacgtc (SEQ IDNO: 148) (SEQ ID NO: 186) AA GYYLH WIIPDSGGTKYAQKFQGEGFHYDILTGSYFYYYGMDV (SEQ ID NO: 113) (SEQ ID NO: 149) (SEQ ID NO: 187)A-17 agctatggtatcagt tggatcggcgtttacaatggtcacacaaaagggtagcagtggctgggtactttgactac NA (SEQ ID NO: 114)atatgcacagaagttccagggc (SEQ ID NO: 188) (SEQ ID NO: 150) AA SYGISWIGVYNGHTKYAQKFQG RVAVAGYFDY (SEQ ID NO: 115) (SEQ ID NO: 151) (SEQ IDNO: 189) A-18 aagtctagtcagagcctcc gaagtttcctaccggttctctatgcaaaatatacagcctcctctcacc NA tgcatagtgatggaaaga (SEQ ID NO: 152) (SEQID NO: 190) actatttgttt (SEQ ID NO: 116) AA KSSQSLLHSDGKVIWYDGSHKYYEDSVKG VGYGSGWYEYYYHYGMDV NYLF (SEQ ID NO: 153) (SEQ ID NO:191) (SEQ ID NO: 117) A-19 agctatggcatgcacattatatggtctgatggaattaacaaatac gagagaggcctctacgatattttgactggttatt NA(SEQ ID NO: 101) tatgcagactccgtgaagggc ataactactacggtattgacgtc (SEQ IDNO: 154) (SEQ ID NO: 192) AA SYGMH IIWSDGINKYYADSVKG ERGLYDILTGYYNYYGIDV(SEQ ID NO: 102) (SEQ ID NO: 155) (SEQ ID NO: 193) A-20 ggctataccttgaacaacattaatagtaggagtagtctcatatac gatcagtataactggaactactactacggtatg NA (SEQID NO: 117) tacacagactctgtgaagggc gacgtc (SEQ ID NO: 156) (SEQ ID NO:194) AA GYTLN NINSRSSLIYYTDSVKG DQYNWNYYYGMDV (SEQ ID NO: 118) (SEQ IDNO: 157) (SEQ ID NO: 195) A-21 agctatgccatgaactacattggtagtagtagtagtgccatatac tatagaagtggctggtcccccctctttgacttc NA (SEQID NO: 119) tacggagactctgtgaagggc (SEQ ID NO: 196) (SEQ ID NO: 158) AASYAMN YIGSSSSAIYYGDSVKG YRSGWSPLFDF (SEQ ID NO: 120) (SEQ ID NO: 159)(SEQ ID NO: 197) A-22 agctatggcatgcac tctatatggtatgatggaagtaataaatattcttggtggtggttttgactac NA (SEQ ID NO: 101) atgtagactccgtgaagggc (SEQ IDNO: 164) (SEQ ID NO: 160) AA SYGMH SIWYDGSNKYYVDSVKG LGGGFDY (SEQ ID NO:102) (SEQ ID NO: 161) (SEQ ID NO: 165) A-23 agatatgccatgaactacattggtagtagtagtagtgccatatac tatagcagtggctggtcccccctctttgactac NA (SEQID NO: 121) tacgcagactctgtgaagggc (SEQ ID NO: 198) (SEQ ID NO: 162) AARYAMN YIGSSSSAIYYADSVKG YSSGWSPLFDY (SEQ ID NO: 122) (SEQ ID NO: 163)(SEQ ID NO: 199) CDR Consensus Sequences Light Chain CDR1 Group 1RSSQSLLDRDDGDTYLD (SEQ ID NO: 10) RSSQSLLDSADGDTYLD (SEQ ID NO: 12)RSTQSLLDSDDGDTYLD (SEQ ID NO: 20)     X₁           X₂ X₃ R S S  Q S L LD R  D  D G T Y T L D     T            S  A i. R S X₁ Q S L L D X₂ X₃ DG T Y T L D (SEQ ID NO: 200) X₁ is a serine residue or a threonineresidue, X₂ is an arginine residue or a serine residue, X₃ is anaspartate residue or an alanine residue, Group 2 RASQDIRNDFG (SEQ ID NO:18) RASQGIRNDLG (SEQ ID NO: 14)         X₄         X₅ R A S Q G  I R N DL  G         D          F ii. R A S Q X₄ I R N D X₅ G (SEQ ID NO: 201)X₄ is a glycine residue or an aspartate residue, X₅ is a leucine residueor a phenylalanine residue. Group 3 SGDKLGDKYVC (SEQ ID NO: 24)SGDKLGDKYAC (SEQ ID NO 26)                   X₆ S G D K L G D K Y V  C                  A iii. S G D K L G D K Y X₆ C (SEQ ID NO: 202) X₆ is avaline residue or an alanine residue Heavy Chain CDR1 Group 1 TYGMH-(SEQ ID NO: 104) SYGMH- (SEQ ID NO: 102) SYDMH- (SEQ ID NO: 106) X₇   X₈S  Y G  M H T    D i. X₇ Y X₈ M H (SEQ ID NO: 203) X₇ is a serineresidue or a threonine residue, X₈ is a glycine residue, or an aspartateresidue, Light Chain CDR2 Group 1 AASSLQS (SEQ ID NO: 45) AASSLES (SEQID NO: 50)           X₉ A A S S L Q  S           E i. A A S S L X₉ S(SEQ ID NO: 204) X₉ is a glutamine residue or a glutamate residue, Group2 QTSKRPS (SEQ ID NO: 54) QSTKRPS (SEQ ID NO: 56)   X₁₀  X₁₁ Q T   S   KR P S   S   T ii. Q X₁₀ X₁₁ K R P S (SEQ ID NO: 205) X₁₀ is a serineresidue or a threonine residue, X₁₁ is a threonine residue or a serineresidue, Heavy Chain CDR2 Group 1 SIWYDGSNKYYVDSVKG (SEQ ID NO: 124)FIWYDGSEKYYVDSVKG (SEQ ID NO: 126) VIWYDGSNKYYADSVKG (SEQ ID NO: 145)EIWNDGSNKYYADSVKG (SEQ ID NO: 132) X₁₂     X₁₃       X₁₄       X₁₅ S   IW Y   D G S N   K Y Y V   D S V K G F       N         E         A V E i.X₁₂ I W X₁₃ D G S X₁₄ K Y Y X₁₅ D S V K G (SEQ ID NO: 206) X₁₂ is aserine residue, a phenylalanine residue, a valine residue, or aglutamate residue, X₁₃ is a tyrosine residue or an asparagine residue,X₁₄ is an asparagine residue or a glutamate residue, X₁₅ is a valineresidue or an alanine residue, Group 2 VISHDGSDKYYADSVKG (SEQ ID NO:134) FISDDGSNKYYGDSVKG (SEQ ID NO: 140) VISYDGSNKYYGDSVKG (SEQ ID NO:143) VISDDGSHKYSADSVKG (SEQ ID NO: 130)X₁₆     X₁₇       X₁₈     X₁₉ X₂₀ V   I S H   D G S D   K Y Y   A   D SV K G F       D         N       S   G         Y         H ii. X₁₆ I SX₁₇ D G S X₁₈ K Y X₁₉ X₂₀ D S V K G (SEQ ID NO: 207) X₁₆ is a valineresidue or a phenylalanine residue, X₁₇ is a histidine residue, anaspartate residue, or a tyrosine residue, X₁₈ is an aspartate residue,an asparagine residue, or a histidine residue, X₁₉ is a tyrosine residueor a serine residue, X₂₀ is an alanine residue or a glycine residue,Light Chain CDR3 Group 1 LQHNSDPLT (SEQ ID NO: 76) LQQNSYPLT (SEQ ID NO:80) LQHNSNPLT (SEQ ID NO: 74)     X₂₁     X₂₂ L Q H   N S N   P L T    Q       D             Y i. L Q X₂₁ N S X₂₂ P L T (SEQ ID NO: 208)X₂₁ is a histidine residue, or a glutamine residue, X₂₂ is an asparagineresidue, an aspartate residue, or a tyrosine residue, Group 2 QAWDSNTVI(SEQ ID NO: 78) QAWDSSTVV (SEQ ID NO: 80)           X₂₃     X₂₄ Q A W DS N   T V I           S       V ii. Q A W D S X₂₃ T V X₂₄ (SEQ ID NO:209) X₂₃ is an asparagine residue or a serine residue, X₂₄ is anisoleucine residue or a valine residue, Heavy Chain CDR3 Group 1EKDHYDILTGYNYYYGLDV (SEQ ID NO: 169) EETYYDILTGYHHYYGMDV (SEQ ID NO:171) EPQYYDILTGYDNYYGMDV (SEQ ID NO: 173) EKPYYDILTGYFYYYGMDV (SEQ IDNO: 175)   X₂₅ X₂₆ X₂₇               X₂₈ X₂₉       X₃₀ E K   D   H   Y DI L T G Y N   Y   Y Y G L   D V  E   T   Y                 H   H         M  P   Q                     D   N       P                     F i. E X₂₅X₂₆ X₂₇ Y D I L T G Y X₂₈ X₂₉ Y Y G X₃₀ D V (SEQ ID NO: 210) X₂₅ is alysine residue, a glutamate residue, or a proline residue, X₂₆ is anaspartate residue, a threonine residue, a glutamine residue, or aproline residue, X₂₇ is a histidine residue or a tyrosine residue, X₂₈is an asparagine residue, a histidine residue, an aspartate residue, ora phenylalanine residue,. X₂₉ is a tyrosine residue, a histidineresidue, or an asparagine residue, X₃₀ is a leucine residue or amethionine residue, Group 2 LGGGFDY (SEQ ID NO: 165) MGGGFDY (SEQ ID NO:167) X₃₁ L   G G G F D Y M ii. X₃₁ G G G F D Y (SEQ ID NO: 211) X₃₁ is aleucine residue or a methionine residue.

In another aspect, the present invention provides antigen bindingproteins that comprise a light chain variable region selected from thegroup consisting of L1-L23 or a heavy chain variable region selectedfrom the group consisting of H1-H23, and fragments, derivatives,muteins, and variants thereof. Such an antigen binding protein can bedenoted using the nomenclature “LxHy”, wherein “x” corresponds to thenumber of the light chain variable region and “y” corresponds to thenumber of the heavy chain variable region. For example, L2H1 refers toan antigen binding protein with a light chain variable region comprisingthe amino acid sequence of L2 and a heavy chain variable regioncomprising the amino acid sequence of H1 as shown in Table 3 below. TheCDR and framework regions of each of these variable domain sequences arealso identified in Table 3 below. Antigen binding proteins of theinvention include, for example, antibodies having a combination of lightchain and heavy chain variable domains selected from the group ofcombinations consisting of L1H1, L2H2, L3H3, L4H4, L5H5, L6H6, L7H7,L8H8, L9H9, L10H10, L11H11, L12H12, L13H13, L14H14, L15H15, L16H16,H17H17, L18H18, L19H19, L20H20, L21H21, L22H22, and L23H23. In oneembodiment, the antibodies are human antibodies.

Table 3 below also provides the polynucleotide (DNA) sequences encodingthe amino acid sequences of the variable light and variable heavydomains for exemplary GCGR antibodies.

TABLE 3 Anti-GCGR Variable Region Polynucleotide Sequences and AminoAcid Sequences Light Chain Variable Region Polynucleotide and Amino acidsequences L1 (A-1) (SEQ ID NO: 212)

(SEQ ID NO: 213)

L2 (A-2) (SEQ ID NO: 214)

(SEQ ID NO: 215)

L3 (A-3) (SEQ ID NO: 216)

(SEQ ID NO: 217)

L4 (A-4) (SEQ ID NO: 218)

(SEQ ID NO: 219)

L5 (A-5) (SEQ ID NO: 220)

(SEQ ID NO: 221)

L6 (A-6) (SEQ ID NO: 222)

(SEQ ID NO: 223)

L7 (A-7) (SEQ ID NO: 224)

(SEQ ID NO: 225)

L8 (A-8) (SEQ ID NO: 226)

(SEQ ID NO: 227)

L9 (A-9) (SEQ ID NO: 228)

(SEQ ID NO: 229)

L10 (A-10) (SEQ ID NO: 230)

(SEQ ID NO: 231)

L11 (A-11) (SEQ ID NO: 232)

(SEQ ID NO: 233)

L12 (A-12) (SEQ ID NO: 234)

(SEQ ID NO: 235)

L13 (A-13) (SEQ ID NO: 236)

(SEQ ID NO: 237)

L14 (A-14) (SEQ ID NO: 238)

(SEQ ID NO: 239)

L15 (A-15) (SEQ ID NO: 240)

(SEQ ID NO: 241)

L16 (A-16) (SEQ ID NO: 242)

(SEQ ID NO: 243)

L17 (A-17) (SEQ ID NO: 244)

(SEQ ID NO: 245)

L18 (A-18) (SEQ ID NO: 246)

(SEQ ID NO: 247)

L19 (A-19) (SEQ ID NO: 248)

(SEQ ID NO: 249)

L20 (A-20) (SEQ ID NO: 250)

L21 (A-21) (SEQ ID NO: 251)

(SEQ ID NO: 252)

(SEQ ID NO: 253)

L22 (A-22) (SEQ ID NO: 254)

(SEQ ID NO: 255)

L23 (A-23) (SEQ ID NO: 256)

(SEQ ID NO: 257)

Heavy Chain Variable Region Polynucleotide and Amino acid Sequences H1(A-1) (SEQ ID NO: 258)

(SEQ ID NO: 259)

H2 (A-2) (SEQ ID NO: 260)

(SEQ ID NO: 261)

H3 (A-3) (SEQ ID NO: 262)

(SEQ ID NO: 263)

H4 (A-4) (SEQ ID NO: 264)

(SEQ ID NO: 265)

H5 (A-5) (SEQ ID NO: 266)

(SEQ ID NO: 267)

H6 (A-6) (SEQ ID NO: 268)

(SEQ ID NO: 269)

H7 (A-7) (SEQ ID NO: 270)

(SEQ ID NO: 271)

H8 (A-8) (SEQ ID NO: 272)

(SEQ ID NO: 273)

H9 (A-9) (SEQ ID NO: 274)

(SEQ ID NO: 275)

H10 (A-10) (SEQ ID NO: 276)

(SEQ ID NO: 277)

H11 (A-11) (SEQ ID NO: 278)

(SEQ ID NO: 279)

H12 (A-12) (SEQ ID NO: 280)

(SEQ ID NO: 281)

H13 (A-13) (SEQ ID NO: 282)

(SEQ ID NO: 283)

H14 (A-14) (SEQ ID NO: 284)

(SEQ ID NO: 285)

H15 (A-15) (SEQ ID NO: 286)

(SEQ ID NO: 287)

H16 (A-16) (SEQ ID NO: 288)

(SEQ ID NO: 289)

H17 (A-17) (SEQ ID NO: 290)

(SEQ ID NO: 291)

H18 (A-18) (SEQ ID NO: 292)

(SEQ ID NO: 293)

H19 (A-19) (SEQ ID NO: 294)

(SEQ ID NO: 295)

H20 (A-20) (SEQ ID NO: 296)

(SEQ ID NO: 297)

H21 (A-21) (SEQ ID NO: 298)

(SEQ ID NO: 299)

H22 (A-22) (SEQ ID NO: 300)

(SEQ ID NO: 301)

H23 (A-23) (SEQ ID NO: 302)

(SEQ ID NO: 303)

Particular embodiments of antigen binding proteins of the presentinvention comprise one or more amino acid sequences that are identicalto the amino acid sequences of one or more of the CDRs and/or FRs(framework regions) illustrated above. In one embodiment, the antigenbinding protein comprises a light chain CDR1 sequence illustrated above.In another embodiment, the antigen binding protein comprises a lightchain CDR2 sequence illustrated above. In another embodiment, theantigen binding protein comprises a light chain CDR3 sequenceillustrated in above. In another embodiment, the antigen binding proteincomprises a heavy chain CDR1 sequence illustrated in above. In anotherembodiment, the antigen binding protein comprises a heavy chain CDR2sequence illustrated above. In another embodiment, the antigen bindingprotein comprises a heavy chain CDR3 sequence illustrated above. Inanother embodiment, the antigen binding protein comprises a light chainFR1 sequence illustrated above. In another embodiment, the antigenbinding protein comprises a light chain FR2 sequence illustrated above.In another embodiment, the antigen binding protein comprises a lightchain FR3 sequence illustrated above. In another embodiment, the antigenbinding protein comprises a light chain FR4 sequence illustrated above.In another embodiment, the antigen binding protein comprises a heavychain FR1 sequence illustrated above. In another embodiment, the antigenbinding protein comprises a heavy chain FR2 sequence illustrated above.In another embodiment, the antigen binding protein comprises a heavychain FR3 sequence illustrated above. In another embodiment, the antigenbinding protein comprises a heavy chain FR4 sequence illustrated above.

In another embodiment, at least one of the antigen binding protein'sCDR3 sequences differs by no more than 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 singleamino acid addition, substitution, and/or deletion from a CDR3 sequencefrom A1-A23, as shown in Tables 2 and 3 above. In another embodiment,the antigen binding protein's light chain CDR3 sequence differs by nomore than 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 single amino acid addition,substitution, and/or deletion from a light chain CDR3 sequence fromA1-A23 as shown above and the antigen binding protein's heavy chain CDR3sequence differs by no more than 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 single amino acidaddition, substitution, and/or deletion from a heavy chain CDR3 sequencefrom A1-A23 as shown above. In another embodiment, the antigen bindingprotein further comprises 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 CDR sequences that eachindependently differs by 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 single amino acidadditions, substitutions, and/or deletions from a CDR sequence ofA1-A23. In another embodiment, the antigen binding protein comprises theCDRs of the light chain variable region and the CDRs of the heavy chainvariable region set forth above. In another embodiment, the antigenbinding protein comprises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and/or 6 consensus CDRsequences shown above. In a further embodiment, the antigen bindingprotein comprises the CDRs of any one of L1H1, L2H2, L3H3, L4H4, L5H5,L6H6, L7H7, L8H8, L9H9, L10H10, L11H11, L12H12, L13H13, L14H14, L15H15,L16H16, L17H17, L18H18, L19H19, L20H20, L21H21, L22H22, and L23H23. Inone embodiment, the antigen binding protein is a human antibody.

In one embodiment, the antigen binding protein (such as an antibody orantibody fragment) comprises a light chain variable domain comprising asequence of amino acids that differs from the sequence of a light chainvariable domain selected from the group consisting of L1 through L23only at 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 residues,wherein each such sequence difference is independently either adeletion, insertion, or substitution of one amino acid residue. Inanother embodiment, the light-chain variable domain comprises a sequenceof amino acids that is at least 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, or99% identical to the sequence of a light chain variable domain selectedfrom the group consisting of L1-L23. In another embodiment, the lightchain variable domain comprises a sequence of amino acids that isencoded by a nucleotide sequence that is at least 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%,90%, 95%, 97%, or 99% identical to a L1-L23 polynucleotide sequencelisted below. In another embodiment, the light chain variable domaincomprises a sequence of amino acids that is encoded by a polynucleotidethat hybridizes under moderately stringent conditions to the complementof a polynucleotide that encodes a light chain variable domain selectedfrom the group consisting of L1-L23. In another embodiment, the lightchain variable domain comprises a sequence of amino acids that isencoded by a polynucleotide that hybridizes under stringent conditionsto the complement of a polynucleotide that encodes a light chainvariable domain selected from the group consisting of L1-L23.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides an antigen bindingprotein comprising a heavy chain variable domain comprising a sequenceof amino acids that differs from the sequence of a heavy chain variabledomain selected from the group consisting of H1-H23 only at 15, 14, 13,12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 residue(s), wherein each suchsequence difference is independently either a deletion, insertion, orsubstitution of one amino acid residue. In another embodiment, the heavychain variable domain comprises a sequence of amino acids that is atleast 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, or 99% identical to thesequence of a heavy chain variable domain selected from the groupconsisting of H1-H23. In another embodiment, the heavy chain variabledomain comprises a sequence of amino acids that is encoded by anucleotide sequence that is at least 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%,or 99% identical to a nucleotide sequence that encodes a heavy chainvariable domain selected from the group consisting of H1-H23. In anotherembodiment, the heavy chain variable domain comprises a sequence ofamino acids that is encoded by a polynucleotide that hybridizes undermoderately stringent conditions to the complement of a polynucleotidethat encodes a heavy chain variable domain selected from the groupconsisting of H1-H23. In another embodiment, the heavy chain variabledomain comprises a sequence of amino acids that is encoded by apolynucleotide that hybridizes under stringent conditions to thecomplement of a polynucleotide that encodes a heavy chain variabledomain selected from the group consisting of H1-H23.

Additional embodiments include antigen binding proteins comprising thecombinations L1H1, L2H2, L3H3, L4H4, L5H5, L6H6, L7H7, L8H8, L9H9,L10H10, L11H11, L12H12, L13H13, L14H14, L15H15, L16H16, L17H17, L18H18,L19H19, L20H20, L21H21, L22H22 and L23H23.

Antigen binding proteins (e.g., antibodies, antibody fragments, andantibody derivatives) of the invention can comprise any constant regionknown in the art. The light chain constant region can be, for example, akappa- or lambda-type light chain constant region, e.g., a human kappa-or lambda-type light chain constant region. The heavy chain constantregion can be, for example, an alpha-, delta-, epsilon-, gamma-, ormu-type heavy chain constant regions, e.g., a human alpha-, delta-,epsilon-, gamma-, or mu-type heavy chain constant region. In oneembodiment, the light or heavy chain constant region is a fragment,derivative, variant, or mutein of a naturally occurring constant region.

Techniques are known for deriving an antibody of a different subclass orisotype from an antibody of interest, i.e., subclass switching. Thus,IgG antibodies may be derived from an IgM antibody, for example, andvice versa. Such techniques allow the preparation of new antibodies thatpossess the antigen-binding properties of a given antibody (the parentantibody), but also exhibit biological properties associated with anantibody isotype or subclass different from that of the parent antibody.Recombinant DNA techniques may be employed. Cloned DNA encodingparticular antibody polypeptides may be employed in such procedures,e.g., DNA encoding the constant domain of an antibody of the desiredisotype. See also Lanitto et al., Methods Mol. Biol. 178:303-16 (2002).

In one embodiment, an antigen binding protein of the invention furthercomprises the constant light chain kappa or lambda domains or a fragmentof these. Sequences of the light chain constant regions andpolynucleotides encoding them are provided in Table 4 below. In anotherembodiment, an antigen binding protein of the invention furthercomprises a heavy chain constant domain, or a fragment thereof, such asthe IgG2 heavy chain constant region provided in Table 4.

In one embodiment, an IgG2 form of the human light chain and heavy chainamino acid sequences for antibody A-9 and A-3 are presented in SEQ IDNO: 310, SEQ ID NO: 311, SEQ ID NO: 312, and SEQ ID NO: 311 below.

TABLE 4 Light chain constant region polynucleotide (kappa) (SEQ ID NO:304)cgaactgtggctgcaccatctgtcttcatcttcccgccatctgatgagcagttgaaatctggaactgcctctgttgtgtgcctgctgaataacttctatcccagagaggccaaagtacagtggaaggtggataacgccctccaatcgggtaactcccaggagagtgtcacagagcaggacagcaaggacagcacctacagcctcagcagcaccctgacgctgagcaaagcagactacgagaaacacaaagtctacgcctgcgaagtcacccatcagggcctgagctcgcccgtcacaaagagcttcaacaggggagagtgt amino acid(kappa) (SEQ ID NO: 305)RTVAAPSVFIFPPSDEQLKSGTASVVCLLNNFYPREAKVQWKVDNALQSGNSQESVTEQDSKDSTYSLSSTLTLSKADYEKHKVYACEVTHQGLSSPVTKSFNRGEC polynucleotide(lambda) (SEQ ID NO: 306)ggtcagcccaaggctgccccctcggtcactctgttcccgccctcctctgaggagcttcaagccaacaaggccacactggtgtgtctcataagtgacttctacccgggagccgtgacagtggcctggaaggcagatagcagccccgtcaaggcgggagtggagaccaccacaccctccaaacaaagcaacaacaagtacgcggccagcagctatctgagcctgacgcctgagcagtggaagtcccacagaagctacagctgccaggtcacgcatgaagggagcaccgtggagaagacagtggcccctacagaatgttca amino acid(lambda) (SEQ ID NO: 307)GQPKAAPSVTLFPPSSEELQANKATLVCLISDFYPGAVTVAWKADSSPVKAGVETTTPSKQSNNKYAASSYLSLTPEQWKSHRSYSCQVTHEGSTVEKTVAPTECS heavy chain constantregion polynucleotide (SEQ ID NO: 308)gcctccaccaagggcccatcggtcttccccctggcgccctgctccaggagcacctccgagagcacagcggccctgggctgcctggtcaaggactacttccccgaaccggtgacggtgtcgtggaactcaggcgctctgaccagcggcgtgcacaccttcccagctgtcctacagtcctcaggactctactccctcagcagcgtggtgaccgtgccctccagcaacttcggcacccagacctacacctgcaacgtagatcacaagcccagcaacaccaaggtggacaagacagttgagcgcaaatgttgtgtcgagtgcccaccgtgcccagcaccacctgtggcaggaccgtcagtcttcctcttccccccaaaacccaaggacaccctcatgatctcccggacccctgaggtcacgtgcgtggtggtggacgtgagccacgaagaccccgaggtccagttcaactggtacgtggacggcgtggaggtgcataatgccaagacaaagccacgggaggagcagttcaacagcacgttccgtgtggtcagcgtcctcaccgttgtgcaccaggactggctgaacggcaaggagtacaagtgcaaggtctccaacaaaggcctcccagcccccatcgagaaaaccatctccaaaaccaaagggcagccccgagaaccacaggtacaccctgcccccatcccgggaggagatgaccaagaaccaggtcagcctgacctgcctggtcaaaggcttctaccccagcgacatcgccgtggagtgggagagcaatgggcagccggagaacaactacaagaccacacctcccatgctggactccgacggctccttcttcctctacagcaagctcaccgtggacaagagcaggtggcagcaggggaacgtcttctcatgctccgtgatgcatgaggctctgcacaaccactacacgcagaagagcctctccctgtctccgggtaaa Amino acid (SEQ ID NO: 309)ASTKGPSVFPLAPCSRSTSESTAALGCLVKDYFPEPVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSLSSVVTVPSSNFGTQTYTCNVDHKPSNTKVDKTVERKCCVECPPCPAPPVAGPSVFLFPPKPKDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDVSHEDPEVQFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQFNSTFRVVSVLTVVHQDWLNGKEYKCKVSNKGLPAPIEKTISKTKGQPREPQVYTLPPSREEMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQPENNYKTTPPMLDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCSVMHEALHNHYTQKSLSLSPGK IgG2 form light chain A-9 (SEQID NO: 310) MDMRVPAQLLGLLLLWFPGARCDIQMTQSPSSLSASVGDRVTITCRASQGIRNDLGWYQQKPGKAPKRLIYAASSLESGVPSRFSGSGSGTEFTLTISSVQPEDFVTYYCLQHNSNPLTFGGGTKVEIKRTVAAPSVFIFPPSDEQLKSGTASVVCLLNNFYPREAKVQWKVDNALQSGNSQESVTEQDSKDSTYSLSSTLTLSKADYEKHKVYACEVTHQGLSSPVTKS FNRGEC IgG2form heavy chain A-9 (SEQ ID NO: 311)MEFGLSWVFLVALLRGVQCQVQLVESGGGVVQPGRSLRISCAASGFTFSSYGMHWVRQAPGKGLEWVAVMWYDGSNKDYVDSVKGRFTISRDNSKNTLYLQMNRLRAEDTAVYYCAREKDHYDILTGYNYYYGLDVWGQGTTVTVSSASTKGPSVFPLAPCSRSTSESTAALGCLVKDYFPEPVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSLSSVVTVPSSNFGTQTYTCNVDHKPSNTKVDKTVERKCCVECPPCPAPPVAGPSVFLFPPKPKDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDVSHEDPEVQFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQFNSTFRVVSVLTVVHQDWLNGKEYKCKVSNKGLPAPIEKTISKTKGQPREPQVYTLPPSREEMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQPENNYKTTPPMLDSDQSFFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCSVMHEALHNHYTQKSLSLSPGK IgG2 form light chain A-3 (SEQ ID NO: 312)MDMRVPAQLLGLLLLWFPGARCDIQMTQSPSSLSASVGDRVTITCRASQGIRNDLGWYQQKPGKAPKRLIYAASSLQSGVPSRFSGSGSGTEFTLTISSVQPEDFVTYYCLQHNSNPLTFGGGTKVEIKRTVAAPSVFIFPPSDEQLKSGTASVVCLLNNFYPREAKVQWKVDNALQSGNSQESVTEQDSKDSTYSLSSTLTLSKADYEKHKVYACEVTHQGLSSPVTKS FNRGEC IgG2form heavy chain A-3 (SEQ ID NO: 311)MEFGLSWVFLVALLRGVQCQVQLVESGGGVVQPGRSLRLSCAASGFTFSSYGMHWVRQAPGKGLEWVAVMWYDGSNKDYVDSVKGRFTISRDNSKNTLYLQMNRLRAEDTAVYYCAREKDHYDILTGYNYYYGLDVWGQGTTVTVSSASTKGPSVFPLAPCSRSTSESTAALGCLVKDYFPEPVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSLSSVVTVPSSNFGTQTYTCNVDHKPSNTKVDKTVERKCCVECPPCPAPPVAGPSVFLFPPKPKDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDVSHEDPEVQFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQFNSTFRVVSVLTVVHQDWLNGKEYKCKVSNKGLPAPIEKTISKTKGQPREPQVYTLPPSREEMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQPENNYKTTPPMLDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCSVMHEALHNHYTQKSLSLSPGK

The antigen binding proteins (for example, antibodies) of the presentinvention include those comprising, for example, the variable domaincombinations L1H1, L2H2, L3H3, L4H4, L5H5, L6H6, L7H7, L8H8, L9H9,L10H10, L11H11, L12H12, L13H13, L14H14, L15H15, L16H15, L17H17, L18H18,L19H19, L20H20, L21H21, L22H22, and L23H23 having a desired isotype (forexample, IgA, IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, IgM, IgE, and IgD) as well as Fabor F(ab′)₂ fragments thereof. Moreover, if an IgG4 is desired, it mayalso be desired to introduce a point mutation in the hinge region asdescribed in Bloom et al., 1997, Protein Science 6:407, (incorporated byreference herein) to alleviate a tendency to form intra-H chaindisulfide bonds that can lead to heterogeneity in the IgG4 antibodies.

Antibodies and Antibody Fragments

In one embodiment the antigen binding proteins are antibodies. The term“antibody” refers to an intact antibody, or an antigen binding fragmentthereof, as described extensively in the definition section. An antibodymay comprise a complete antibody molecule (including polyclonal,monoclonal, chimeric, humanized, or human versions having full lengthheavy and/or light chains), or comprise an antigen binding fragmentthereof. Antibody fragments include F(ab′)₂, Fab, Fab′, Fv, Fc, and Fdfragments, and can be incorporated into single domain antibodies,single-chain antibodies, maxibodies, minibodies, intrabodies, diabodies,triabodies, tetrabodies, v-NAR and bis-scFv (see e.g., Hollinger andHudson, 2005, Nature Biotechnology, 23, 9, 1126-1136). Also included areantibody polypeptides such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.6,703,199, including fibronectin polypeptide monobodies. Other antibodypolypeptides are disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication 2005/0238646,which are single-chain polypeptides. In one embodiment, the antibodiesof the present invention comprise at least one CDR or consensus CDR setforth in Table 2 above. In another aspect, the present inventionprovides hybridomas capable of producing the antibodies of theinvention, and methods of producing antibodies from hybridomas, asdescribed further below.

Chimeric antibodies and humanized antibodies are defined in thedefinition section and may be prepared by known techniques. In oneembodiment, a humanized monoclonal antibody comprises the variabledomain of a murine antibody (or all or part of the antigen binding sitethereof) and a constant domain derived from a human antibody.Alternatively, a humanized antibody fragment may comprise the antigenbinding site of a murine monoclonal antibody and a variable domainfragment (lacking the antigen-binding site) derived from a humanantibody. Procedures for the production of engineered monoclonalantibodies include those described in Riechmann et al., 1988, Nature332:323, Liu et al., 1987, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 84:3439, Larrick etal., 1989, Bio/Technology 7:934, and Winter et al., 1993, TIPS 14:139.In one embodiment, the chimeric antibody is a CDR grafted antibody.Techniques for humanizing antibodies are discussed in, e.g., U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,869,619; 5,225,539; 5,821,337; 5,859,205; 6,881,557, Padlan etal., 1995, FASEB J. 9:133-39, Tamura et al., 2000, J. Immunol.164:1432-41, Zhang, W., et al., Molecular Immunology. 42(12):1445-1451,2005; Hwang W. et al., Methods. 36(1):3542, 2005; Dall'Acqua W F, etal., Methods 36(1):43-60, 2005; and Clark, M., Immunology Today.21(8):397-402, 2000.

An antibody of the present invention may also be a fully humanmonoclonal antibody. Fully human monoclonal antibodies may be generatedby any number of techniques with which those having ordinary skill inthe art will be familiar. Such methods include, but are not limited to,Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) transformation of human peripheral blood cells(e.g., containing B lymphocytes), in vitro immunization of humanB-cells, fusion of spleen cells from immunized transgenic mice carryinginserted human immunoglobulin genes, isolation from human immunoglobulinV region phage libraries, or other procedures as known in the art andbased on the disclosure herein.

Procedures have been developed for generating human monoclonalantibodies in non-human animals. For example, mice in which one or moreendogenous immunoglobulin genes have been inactivated by various meanshave been prepared. Human immunoglobulin genes have been introduced intothe mice to replace the inactivated mouse genes. In this technique,elements of the human heavy and light chain locus are introduced intostrains of mice derived from embryonic stem cell lines that containtargeted disruptions of the endogenous heavy chain and light chain loci(see also Bruggemann et al., Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 8:455-58 (1997)).For example, human immunoglobulin transgenes may be mini-geneconstructs, or transloci on yeast artificial chromosomes, which undergoB-cell-specific DNA rearrangement and hypermutation in the mouselymphoid tissue.

Antibodies produced in the animal incorporate human immunoglobulinpolypeptide chains encoded by the human genetic material introduced intothe animal. In one embodiment, a non-human animal, such as a transgenicmouse, is immunized with a suitable GCGR immunogen. One example of asuitable GCGR immunogen are receptor enriched cell membrane fractionssuch as is described in the Examples below. Another example is theextracellular domain of SEQ ID NO: 2.

Examples of techniques for production and use of transgenic animals forthe production of human or partially human antibodies are described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,814,318, 5,569,825, and 5,545,806, Davis et al.,Production of human antibodies from transgenic mice in Lo, ed. AntibodyEngineering: Methods and Protocols, Humana Press, NJ: 191-200 (2003),Kellermann et al., 2002, Curr Opin Biotechnol. 13:593-97, Russel et al.,2000, Infect Immun. 68:1820-26, Gallo et al., 2000, Eur J. Immun.30:534-40, Davis et al., 1999, Cancer Metastasis Rev. 18:421-25, Green,1999, J Immunol Methods. 231:11-23, Jakobovits, 1998, Advanced DrugDelivery Reviews 31:3342, Green et al., 1998, J Exp Med. 188:483-95,Jakobovits A, 1998, Exp. Opin. Invest. Drugs. 7:607-14, Tsuda et al.,1997, Genomics. 42:413-21, Mendez et al., 1997, Nat. Genet. 15:146-56,Jakobovits, 1994, Curr Biol. 4:761-63, Arbones et al., 1994, Immunity.1:247-60, Green et al., 1994, Nat. Genet. 7:13-21, Jakobovits et al.,1993, Nature. 362:255-58, Jakobovits et al., 1993, Proc Natl Acad SciUSA. 90:2551-55. Chen, J., M. Trounstine, F. W. Alt, F. Young, C.Kurahara, J. Loring, D. Huszar. “Immunoglobulin gene rearrangement inB-cell deficient mice generated by targeted deletion of the JH locus.”International Immunology 5 (1993): 647-656, Choi et al., 1993, NatureGenetics 4: 117-23, Fishwild et al., 1996, Nature Biotechnology 14:845-51, Harding et al., 1995, Annals of the New York Academy ofSciences, Lonberg et al., 1994, Nature 368: 856-59, Lonberg, 1994,Transgenic Approaches to Human Monoclonal Antibodies in Handbook ofExperimental Pharmacology 113: 49-101, Lonberg et al., 1995, InternalReview of Immunology 13: 65-93, Neuberger, 1996, Nature Biotechnology14: 826, Taylor et al., 1992, Nucleic Acids Research 20: 6287-95, Tayloret al., 1994, International Immunology 6: 579-91, Tomizuka et al., 1997,Nature Genetics 16: 133-43, Tomizuka et al., 2000, Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences USA 97: 722-27, Tuaillon et al., 1993,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 90: 3720-24, andTuaillon et al., 1994, Journal of Immunology 152: 2912-20; Lonberg etal., Nature 368:856, 1994; Taylor et al., Int. Immun. 6:579, 1994; U.S.Pat. No. 5,877,397; Bruggemann et al., 1997 Curr. Opin. Biotechnol.8:455-58; Jakobovits et al., 1995 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 764:525-35. Inaddition, protocols involving the XenoMouse® (Abgenix, now Amgen, Inc.)are described, for example in U.S. 05/0118643 and WO 05/694879, WO98/24838, WO 00/76310, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,064,244.

Lymphoid cells from the immunized transgenic mice are fused with myelomacells for example to produce hybridomas. Myeloma cells for use inhybridoma-producing fusion procedures preferably arenon-antibody-producing, have high fusion efficiency, and enzymedeficiencies that render them incapable of growing in certain selectivemedia which support the growth of only the desired fused cells(hybridomas). Examples of suitable cell lines for use in such fusionsinclude Sp-20, P3-X63/Ag8, P3-X63-Ag8.653, NS1/1.Ag 41, Sp210-Ag14, FO,NSO/U, MPC-11, MPC11-X45-GTG 1.7 and S194/5XX0 Bul; examples of celllines used in rat fusions include R210.RCY3, Y3-Ag 1.2.3, IR983F and4B210. Other cell lines useful for cell fusions are U-266, GM1500-GRG2,LICR-LON-HMy2 and UC729-6.

The lymphoid (e.g., spleen) cells and the myeloma cells may be combinedfor a few minutes with a membrane fusion-promoting agent, such aspolyethylene glycol or a nonionic detergent, and then plated at lowdensity on a selective medium that supports the growth of hybridomacells but not unfused myeloma cells. One selection media is HAT(hypoxanthine, aminopterin, thymidine). After a sufficient time, usuallyabout one to two weeks, colonies of cells are observed. Single coloniesare isolated, and antibodies produced by the cells may be tested forbinding activity to human GCGR using any one of a variety ofimmunoassays known in the art and described herein. The hybridomas arecloned (e.g., by limited dilution cloning or by soft agar plaqueisolation) and positive clones that produce an antibody specific tohuman GCGR are selected and cultured. The monoclonal antibodies from thehybridoma cultures may be isolated from the supernatants of hybridomacultures. Thus the present invention provides hybridomas that comprisepolynucleotides encoding the antigen binding proteins of the inventionin the chromosomes of the cell. These hybridomas can be culturedaccording to methods described herein and known in the art.

Another method for generating human antibodies of the invention includesimmortalizing human peripheral blood cells by EBV transformation. See,e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,456. Such an immortalized B-cell line (orlymphoblastoid cell line) producing a monoclonal antibody thatspecifically binds to human GCGR can be identified by immunodetectionmethods as provided herein, for example, an ELISA, and then isolated bystandard cloning techniques. The stability of the lymphoblastoid cellline producing an anti-GCGR antibody may be improved by fusing thetransformed cell line with a murine myeloma to produce a mouse-humanhybrid cell line according to methods known in the art (see, e.g.,Glasky et al., Hybridoma 8:377-89 (1989)). Still another method togenerate human monoclonal antibodies is in vitro immunization, whichincludes priming human splenic B-cells with human GCGR, followed byfusion of primed B-cells with a heterohybrid fusion partner. See, e.g.,Boerner et al., 1991 J. Immunol. 147:86-95.

In certain embodiments, a B-cell that is producing an anti-human GCGRantibody is selected and the light chain and heavy chain variableregions are cloned from the B-cell according to molecular biologytechniques known in the art (WO 92/02551; U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,052;Babcook et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:7843-48 (1996)) anddescribed herein. B-cells from an immunized animal may be isolated fromthe spleen, lymph node, or peripheral blood sample by selecting a cellthat is producing an antibody that specifically binds to GCGR. B-cellsmay also be isolated from humans, for example, from a peripheral bloodsample. Methods for detecting single B-cells that are producing anantibody with the desired specificity are well known in the art, forexample, by plaque formation, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, invitro stimulation followed by detection of specific antibody, and thelike. Methods for selection of specific antibody-producing B-cellsinclude, for example, preparing a single cell suspension of B-cells insoft agar that contains human GCGR. Binding of the specific antibodyproduced by the B-cell to the antigen results in the formation of acomplex, which may be visible as an immunoprecipitate. After the B-cellsproducing the desired antibody are selected, the specific antibody genesmay be cloned by isolating and amplifying DNA or mRNA according tomethods known in the art and described herein.

An additional method for obtaining antibodies of the invention is byphage display. See, e.g., Winter et al., 1994 Annu. Rev. Immunol.12:433-55; Burton et al., 1994 Adv. Immunol. 57:191-280. Human or murineimmunoglobulin variable region gene combinatorial libraries may becreated in phage vectors that can be screened to select Ig fragments(Fab, Fv, sFv, or multimers thereof) that bind specifically to TGF-betabinding protein or variant or fragment thereof. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No.5,223,409; Huse et al., 1989 Science 246:1275-81; Sastry et al., Proc.Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:5728-32 (1989); Alting-Mees et al., Strategiesin Molecular Biology 3:1-9 (1990); Kang et al., 1991 Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. USA 88:4363-66; Hoogenboom et al., 1992 J. Molec. Biol.227:381-388; Schlebusch et al., 1997 Hybridoma 16:47-52 and referencescited therein. For example, a library containing a plurality ofpolynucleotide sequences encoding Ig variable region fragments may beinserted into the genome of a filamentous bacteriophage, such as M13 ora variant thereof, in frame with the sequence encoding a phage coatprotein. A fusion protein may be a fusion of the coat protein with thelight chain variable region domain and/or with the heavy chain variableregion domain. According to certain embodiments, immunoglobulin Fabfragments may also be displayed on a phage particle (see, e.g., U.S.Pat. No. 5,698,426).

Heavy and light chain immunoglobulin cDNA expression libraries may alsobe prepared in lambda phage, for example, using λImmunoZap™(H) andλImmunoZap™(L) vectors (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif.). Briefly, mRNA isisolated from a B-cell population, and used to create heavy and lightchain immunoglobulin cDNA expression libraries in the λImmunoZap(H) andλImmunoZap(L) vectors. These vectors may be screened individually orco-expressed to form Fab fragments or antibodies (see Huse et al.,supra; see also Sastry et al., supra). Positive plaques may subsequentlybe converted to a non-lytic plasmid that allows high level expression ofmonoclonal antibody fragments from E. coli.

In one embodiment, in a hybridoma the variable regions of a geneexpressing a monoclonal antibody of interest are amplified usingnucleotide primers. These primers may be synthesized by one of ordinaryskill in the art, or may be purchased from commercially availablesources. (See, e.g., Stratagene (La Jolla, Calif.), which sells primersfor mouse and human variable regions including, among others, primersfor V_(Ha), V_(Hb), V_(Hc), V_(Hd), C_(H1), V_(L) and C_(L) regions.)These primers may be used to amplify heavy or light chain variableregions, which may then be inserted into vectors such as ImmunoZAP™H orImmunoZAP™L (Stratagene), respectively. These vectors may then beintroduced into E. coli, yeast, or mammalian-based systems forexpression. Large amounts of a single-chain protein containing a fusionof the V_(H) and V_(L) domains may be produced using these methods (seeBird et al., Science 242:423-426, 1988).

Once cells producing antibodies according to the invention have beenobtained using any of the above-described immunization and othertechniques, the specific antibody genes may be cloned by isolating andamplifying DNA or mRNA therefrom according to standard procedures asdescribed herein. The antibodies produced therefrom may be sequenced andthe CDRs identified and the DNA coding for the CDRs may be manipulatedas described previously to generate other antibodies according to theinvention.

Antigen binding proteins of the present invention preferably modulateglucagon signalling in the cell-based assay described herein and/or thein vivo assay described herein described herein and/or cross-block thebinding of one of the antibodies described in this application and/orare cross-blocked from binding GCGR by one of the antibodies describedin this application. Accordingly such binding agents can be identifiedusing the assays described herein.

In certain embodiments, antibodies are generated by first identifyingantibodies that bind to cells overexpressing GCGRs and/or neutralize inthe cell-based and/or in vivo assays described herein and/or cross-blockthe antibodies described in this application and/or are cross-blockedfrom binding GCGRs by one of the antibodies described in thisapplication.

It will be understood by one skilled in the art that some proteins, suchas antibodies, may undergo a variety of posttranslational modifications.The type and extent of these modifications often depends on the hostcell line used to express the protein as well as the culture conditions.Such modifications may include variations in glycosylation, methionineoxidation, diketopiperizine formation, aspartate isomerization andasparagine deamidation. A frequent modification is the loss of acarboxy-terminal basic residue (such as lysine or arginine) due to theaction of carboxypeptidases (as described in Harris, R. J. Journal ofChromatography 705:129-134, 1995).

An alternative method for production of a murine monoclonal antibody isto inject the hybridoma cells into the peritoneal cavity of a syngeneicmouse, for example, a mouse that has been treated (e.g.,pristane-primed) to promote formation of ascites fluid containing themonoclonal antibody. Monoclonal antibodies can be isolated and purifiedby a variety of well-established techniques. Such isolation techniquesinclude affinity chromatography with Protein-A Sepharose, size-exclusionchromatography, and ion-exchange chromatography (see, for example,Coligan at pages 2.7.1-2.7.12 and pages 2.9.1-2.9.3; Baines et al.,“Purification of Immunoglobulin G (IgG),” in Methods in MolecularBiology, Vol. 10, pages 79-104 (The Humana Press, Inc. 1992)).Monoclonal antibodies may be purified by affinity chromatography usingan appropriate ligand selected based on particular properties of theantibody (e.g., heavy or light chain isotype, binding specificity,etc.). Examples of a suitable ligand, immobilized on a solid support,include Protein A, Protein G, an anticonstant region (light chain orheavy chain) antibody, an anti-idiotype antibody, and a TGF-beta bindingprotein, or fragment or variant thereof.

Molecular evolution of the complementarity determining regions (CDRs) inthe center of the antibody binding site also has been used to isolateantibodies with increased affinity, for example, antibodies havingincreased affinity for c-erbB-2, as described by Schier et al., 1996, J.Mol. Biol. 263:551. Accordingly, such techniques are useful in preparingantibodies to human glucagon receptor.

Antigen binding proteins directed against human glucagon receptor can beused, for example, in assays to detect the presence of the glucagonreceptor, either in vitro or in vivo.

Although human, partially human, or humanized antibodies will besuitable for many applications, particularly those involvingadministration of the antibody to a human subject, other types ofantigen binding proteins will be suitable for certain applications. Thenon-human antibodies of the invention can be, for example, derived fromany antibody-producing animal, such as mouse, rat, rabbit, goat, donkey,or non-human primate (for example, monkey such as cynomologus or rhesusmonkey) or ape (e.g., chimpanzee)). Non-human antibodies of theinvention can be used, for example, in in vitro and cell-culture basedapplications, or any other application where an immune response to theantibody of the invention does not occur, is insignificant, can beprevented, is not a concern, or is desired. Example 2 below describesthe generation of a mouse antibody. In one embodiment, a non-humanantibody of the invention is administered to a non-human subject. Inanother embodiment, the non-human antibody does not elicit an immuneresponse in the non-human subject. In another embodiment, the non-humanantibody is from the same species as the non-human subject, e.g., amouse antibody of the invention is administered to a mouse. An antibodyfrom a particular species can be made by, for example, immunizing ananimal of that species with the desired immunogen or using an artificialsystem for generating antibodies of that species (e.g., a bacterial orphage display-based system for generating antibodies of a particularspecies), or by converting an antibody from one species into an antibodyfrom another species by replacing, e.g., the constant region of theantibody with a constant region from the other species, or by replacingone or more amino acid residues of the antibody so that it more closelyresembles the sequence of an antibody from the other species. In oneembodiment, the antibody is a chimeric antibody comprising amino acidsequences derived from antibodies from two or more different species.

Antibodies also may be prepared by any of a number of conventionaltechniques. For example, they may be purified from cells that naturallyexpress them (e.g., an antibody can be purified from a hybridoma thatproduces it), or produced in recombinant expression systems, using anytechnique known in the art. See, for example, Monoclonal Antibodies,Hybridomas: A New Dimension in Biological Analyses, Kennet et al.(eds.), Plenum Press, New York (1980); and Antibodies: A LaboratoryManual, Harlow and Land (eds.), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press,Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., (1988). This is discussed in the nucleic acidsection below.

Where it is desired to improve the affinity of antibodies according tothe invention containing one or more of the above-mentioned CDRs can beobtained by a number of affinity maturation protocols includingmaintaining the CDRs (Yang et al., J. Mol. Biol., 254, 392-403, 1995),chain shuffling (Marks et al., Bio/Technology, 10, 779-783, 1992), useof mutation strains of E. coli. (Low et al., J. Mol. Biol., 250,350-368, 1996), DNA shuffling (Patten et al., Curr. Opin. Biotechnol.,8, 724-733, 1997), phage display (Thompson et al., J. Mol. Biol., 256,7-88, 1996) and additional PCR techniques (Crameri, et al., Nature, 391,288-291, 1998). All of these methods of affinity maturation arediscussed by Vaughan et al. (Nature Biotechnology, 16, 535-539, 1998).

Antibody Fragments

In another aspect, the present invention provides fragments of ananti-glucagon receptor antibody of the invention. Such fragments canconsist entirely of antibody-derived sequences or can compriseadditional sequences. Examples of antigen-binding fragments include Fab,F(ab′)2, single chain antibodies, diabodies, triabodies, tetrabodies,and domain antibodies. Other examples are provided in Lunde et al.,2002, Biochem. Soc. Trans. 30:500-06.

Single chain antibodies may be formed by linking heavy and light chainvariable domain (Fv region) fragments via an amino acid bridge (shortpeptide linker), resulting in a single polypeptide chain. Suchsingle-chain Fvs (scFvs) have been prepared by fusing DNA encoding apeptide linker between DNAs encoding the two variable domainpolypeptides (V_(L) and V_(H)). The resulting polypeptides can fold backon themselves to form antigen-binding monomers, or they can formmultimers (e.g., dimers, trimers, or tetramers), depending on the lengthof a flexible linker between the two variable domains (Kortt et al.,1997, Prot. Eng. 10:423; Kortt et al., 2001, Biomol. Eng. 18:95-108). Bycombining different V_(L) and V_(H)-comprising polypeptides, one canform multimeric scFvs that bind to different epitopes (Kriangkum et al.,2001, Biomol. Eng. 18:31-40). Techniques developed for the production ofsingle chain antibodies include those described in U.S. Pat. No.4,946,778; Bird, 1988, Science 242:423; Huston et al., 1988, Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. USA 85:5879; Ward et al., 1989, Nature 334:544, de Graaf etal., 2002, Methods Mol. Biol. 178:379-87. Single chain antibodiesderived from antibodies provided herein include, but are not limited to,scFvs comprising the variable domain combinations L1H1, L2H2, L3H3,L4H4, L5H5, L6H6, L7H7, L8H8, L9H9, L10H10, L11H11, L12H12, L13H13,L14H14, L15H15, L16H16, L17H17, L18H18, L19H19, L20H20, L21H21, L22H22,and L23H23 are encompassed by the present invention.

Antigen binding fragments derived from an antibody can also be obtained,for example, by proteolytic hydrolysis of the antibody, for example,pepsin or papain digestion of whole antibodies according to conventionalmethods. By way of example, antibody fragments can be produced byenzymatic cleavage of antibodies with pepsin to provide a 5S fragmenttermed F(ab′)₂. This fragment can be further cleaved using a thiolreducing agent to produce 3.5S Fab′ monovalent fragments. Optionally,the cleavage reaction can be performed using a blocking group for thesulfhydryl groups that result from cleavage of disulfide linkages. As analternative, an enzymatic cleavage using papain produces two monovalentFab fragments and an Fc fragment directly. These methods are described,for example, by Goldenberg, U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,647, Nisonoff et al.,Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 89:230, 1960; Porter, Biochem. J. 73:119, 1959;Edelman et al., in Methods in Enzymology 1:422 (Academic Press 1967);and by Andrews, S. M. and Titus, J. A. in Current Protocols inImmunology (Coligan J. E., et al., eds), John Wiley & Sons, New York(2003), pages 2.8.1-2.8.10 and 2.10A.1-2.10A.5. Other methods forcleaving antibodies, such as separating heavy chains to form monovalentlight-heavy chain fragments (Fd), further cleaving of fragments, orother enzymatic, chemical, or genetic techniques may also be used, solong as the fragments bind to the antigen that is recognized by theintact antibody.

Another form of an antibody fragment is a peptide comprising one or morecomplementarity determining regions (CDRs) of an antibody. CDRs can beobtained by constructing polynucleotides that encode the CDR ofinterest. Such polynucleotides are prepared, for example, by using thepolymerase chain reaction to synthesize the variable region using mRNAof antibody-producing cells as a template (see, for example, Larrick etal., Methods: A Companion to Methods in Enzymology 2:106, 1991;Courtenay-Luck, “Genetic Manipulation of Monoclonal Antibodies,” inMonoclonal Antibodies: Production, Engineering and Clinical Application,Ritter et al. (eds.), page 166 (Cambridge University Press 1995); andWard et al., “Genetic Manipulation and Expression of Antibodies,” inMonoclonal Antibodies: Principles and Applications, Birch et al.,(eds.), page 137 (Wiley-Liss, Inc. 1995)). The antibody fragment furthermay comprise at least one variable region domain of an antibodydescribed herein. Thus, for example, the V region domain may bemonomeric and be a V_(H) or V_(L) domain, which is capable ofindependently binding human glucagon receptor with an affinity at leastequal to 10⁻⁷M or less as described below.

The variable region domain may be any naturally occurring variabledomain or an engineered version thereof. By engineered version is meanta variable region domain that has been created using recombinant DNAengineering techniques. Such engineered versions include those created,for example, from a specific antibody variable region by insertions,deletions, or changes in or to the amino acid sequences of the specificantibody. Particular examples include engineered variable region domainscontaining at least one CDR and optionally one or more framework aminoacids from a first antibody and the remainder of the variable regiondomain from a second antibody.

The variable region domain may be covalently attached at a C-terminalamino acid to at least one other antibody domain or a fragment thereof.Thus, for example, a VH domain that is present in the variable regiondomain may be linked to an immunoglobulin CH1 domain, or a fragmentthereof. Similarly a V_(L) domain may be linked to a C_(K) domain or afragment thereof. In this way, for example, the antibody may be a Fabfragment wherein the antigen binding domain contains associated V_(H)and V_(L) domains covalently linked at their C-termini to a CH1 andC_(K) domain, respectively. The CH1 domain may be extended with furtheramino acids, for example to provide a hinge region or a portion of ahinge region domain as found in a Fab′ fragment, or to provide furtherdomains, such as antibody CH2 and CH3 domains.

Derivatives and Variants of Antigen Binding Proteins

The nucleotide sequences of L1-L23 and H1-H23, encoding thecorresponding amino acid sequences of A1-A23, can be altered, forexample, by random mutagenesis or by site-directed mutagenesis (e.g.,oligonucleotide-directed site-specific mutagenesis) to create an alteredpolynucleotide comprising one or more particular nucleotidesubstitutions, deletions, or insertions as compared to the non-mutatedpolynucleotide. Examples of techniques for making such alterations aredescribed in Walder et al., 1986, Gene 42:133; Bauer et al. 1985, Gene37:73; Craik, BioTechniques, January 1985, 12-19; Smith et al., 1981,Genetic Engineering: Principles and Methods, Plenum Press; and U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,518,584 and 4,737,462. These and other methods can be used tomake, for example, derivatives of anti-glucagon receptor antibodies thathave a desired property, for example, increased affinity, avidity, orspecificity for glucagon receptor increased activity or stability invivo or in vitro, or reduced in vivo side-effects as compared to theunderivatized antibody.

Other derivatives of anti-glucagon receptor antibodies within the scopeof this invention include covalent or aggregative conjugates ofanti-glucagon receptor antibodies, or fragments thereof, with otherproteins or polypeptides, such as by expression of recombinant fusionproteins comprising heterologous polypeptides fused to the N-terminus orC-terminus of an anti-glucagon receptor antibody polypeptide. Forexample, the conjugated peptide may be a heterologous signal (or leader)polypeptide, e.g., the yeast alpha-factor leader, or a peptide such asan epitope tag. Antigen binding protein-containing fusion proteins cancomprise peptides added to facilitate purification or identification ofantigen binding protein (e.g., poly-His). An antigen binding proteinalso can be linked to the FLAG peptide as described in Hopp et al.,Bio/Technology 6:1204, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,912. The FLAGpeptide is highly antigenic and provides an epitope reversibly bound bya specific monoclonal antibody (mAb), enabling rapid assay and facilepurification of expressed recombinant protein. Reagents useful forpreparing fusion proteins in which the FLAG peptide is fused to a givenpolypeptide are commercially available (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.). Inanother embodiment, oligomers that contain one or more antigen bindingproteins may be employed as glucagon receptor antagonists. Oligomers maybe in the form of covalently-linked or non-covalently-linked dimers,trimers, or higher oligomers. Oligomers comprising two or more antigenbinding protein are contemplated for use, with one example being ahomodimer. Other oligomers include heterodimers, homotrimers,heterotrimers, homotetramers, heterotetramers, etc.

One embodiment is directed to oligomers comprising multiple antigenbinding proteins joined via covalent or non-covalent interactionsbetween peptide moieties fused to the antigen binding proteins. Suchpeptides may be peptide linkers (spacers), or peptides that have theproperty of promoting oligomerization. Leucine zippers and certainpolypeptides derived from antibodies are among the peptides that canpromote oligomerization of antigen binding proteins attached thereto, asdescribed in more detail below.

In particular embodiments, the oligomers comprise from two to fourantigen binding proteins. The antigen binding proteins of the oligomermay be in any form, such as any of the forms described above, e.g.,variants or fragments. Preferably, the oligomers comprise antigenbinding proteins that have glucagon receptor binding activity.

In one embodiment, an oligomer is prepared using polypeptides derivedfrom immunoglobulins. Preparation of fusion proteins comprising certainheterologous polypeptides fused to various portions of antibody-derivedpolypeptides (including the Fc domain) has been described, e.g., byAshkenazi et al., 1991, PNAS USA 88:10535; Byrn et al., 1990, Nature344:677; and Hollenbaugh et al., 1992 “Construction of ImmunoglobulinFusion Proteins”, in Current Protocols in Immunology, Suppl. 4, pages10.19.1-10.19.11. One embodiment of the present invention is directed toa dimer comprising two fusion proteins created by fusing a glucagonreceptor binding fragment of an anti-glucagon receptor antibody to theFc region of an antibody. The dimer can be made by, for example,inserting a gene fusion encoding the fusion protein into an appropriateexpression vector, expressing the gene fusion in host cells transformedwith the recombinant expression vector, and allowing the expressedfusion protein to assemble much like antibody molecules, whereuponinterchain disulfide bonds form between the Fc moieties to yield thedimer.

The term “Fc polypeptide” as used herein includes native and muteinforms of polypeptides derived from the Fc region of an antibody.Truncated forms of such polypeptides containing the hinge region thatpromotes dimerization also are included. Fusion proteins comprising Fcmoieties (and oligomers formed therefrom) offer the advantage of facilepurification by affinity chromatography over Protein A or Protein Gcolumns.

One suitable Fc polypeptide, described in PCT application WO 93/10151(hereby incorporated by reference), is a single chain polypeptideextending from the N-terminal hinge region to the native C-terminus ofthe Fc region of a human IgG1 antibody. Another useful Fc polypeptide isthe Fc mutein described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,035 and in Baum et al.,1994, EMBO J. 13:3992-4001. The amino acid sequence of this mutein isidentical to that of the native Fc sequence presented in WO 93/10151,except that amino acid 19 has been changed from Leu to Ala, amino acid20 has been changed from Leu to Glu, and amino acid 22 has been changedfrom Gly to Ala. The mutein exhibits reduced affinity for Fc receptors.In other embodiments, the variable portion of the heavy and/or lightchains of an anti-glucagon receptor antibody may be substituted for thevariable portion of an antibody heavy and/or light chain.

Alternatively, the oligomer is a fusion protein comprising multipleantigen binding proteins, with or without peptide linkers (spacerpeptides). Among the suitable peptide linkers are those described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 4,751,180 and 4,935,233.

Another method for preparing oligomeric antigen binding proteinsinvolves use of a leucine zipper. Leucine zipper domains are peptidesthat promote oligomerization of the proteins in which they are found.Leucine zippers were originally identified in several DNA-bindingproteins (Landschulz et al., 1988, Science 240:1759), and have sincebeen found in a variety of different proteins. Among the known leucinezippers are naturally occurring peptides and derivatives thereof thatdimerize or trimerize. Examples of leucine zipper domains suitable forproducing soluble oligomeric proteins are described in PCT applicationWO 94/10308, and the leucine zipper derived from lung surfactant proteinD (SPD) described in Hoppe et al., 1994, FEBS Letters 344:191, herebyincorporated by reference. The use of a modified leucine zipper thatallows for stable trimerization of a heterologous protein fused theretois described in Fanslow et al., 1994, Semin. Immunol. 6:267-78. In oneapproach, recombinant fusion proteins comprising an anti-glucagonreceptor antibody fragment or derivative fused to a leucine zipperpeptide are expressed in suitable host cells, and the soluble oligomericanti-glucagon receptor antibody fragments or derivatives that form arerecovered from the culture supernatant.

In another embodiment, the antibody derivatives can comprise at leastone of the CDRs disclosed herein. For example, one or more CDR may beincorporated into known antibody framework regions (IgG1, IgG2, etc.),or conjugated to a suitable vehicle to enhance the half-life thereof.Suitable vehicles include, but are not limited to Fc, albumin,transferrin, and the like. These and other suitable vehicles are knownin the art. Such conjugated CDR peptides may be in monomeric, dimeric,tetrameric, or other form. In one embodiment, one or more water-solublepolymer is bonded at one or more specific position, for example at theamino terminus, of a binding agent. In an example, an antibodyderivative comprises one or more water soluble polymer attachments,including, but not limited to, polyethylene glycol, polyoxyethyleneglycol, or polypropylene glycol. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,640,835,4,496,689, 4,301,144, 4,670,417, 4,791,192 and 4,179,337. In certainembodiments, a derivative comprises one or more ofmonomethoxy-polyethylene glycol, dextran, cellulose, or othercarbohydrate based polymers, poly-(N-vinyl pyrrolidone)-polyethyleneglycol, propylene glycol homopolymers, a polypropylene oxide/ethyleneoxide co-polymer, polyoxyethylated polyols (e.g., glycerol) andpolyvinyl alcohol, as well as mixtures of such polymers. In certainembodiments, one or more water-soluble polymer is randomly attached toone or more side chains. In certain embodiments, PEG can act to improvethe therapeutic capacity for a binding agent, such as an antibody.Certain such methods are discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.6,133,426, which is hereby incorporated by reference for any purpose.

It will be appreciated that an antibody of the present invention mayhave at least one amino acid substitution, providing that the antibodyretains binding specificity. Therefore, modifications to the antibodystructures are encompassed within the scope of the invention. These mayinclude amino acid substitutions, which may be conservative ornon-conservative, that do not destroy the human glucagon receptorbinding capability of an antibody. Conservative amino acid substitutionsmay encompass non-naturally occurring amino acid residues, which aretypically incorporated by chemical peptide synthesis rather than bysynthesis in biological systems. These include peptidomimetics and otherreversed or inverted forms of amino acid moieties. A conservative aminoacid substitution may also involve a substitution of a native amino acidresidue with a normative residue such that there is little or no effecton the polarity or charge of the amino acid residue at that position.Non-conservative substitutions may involve the exchange of a member ofone class of amino acids or amino acid mimetics for a member fromanother class with different physical properties (e.g. size, polarity,hydrophobicity, charge). Such substituted residues may be introducedinto regions of the human antibody that are homologous with non-humanantibodies, or into the non-homologous regions of the molecule.

Moreover, one skilled in the art may generate test variants containing asingle amino acid substitution at each desired amino acid residue. Thevariants can then be screened using activity assays known to thoseskilled in the art. Such variants could be used to gather informationabout suitable variants. For example, if one discovered that a change toa particular amino acid residue resulted in destroyed, undesirablyreduced, or unsuitable activity, variants with such a change may beavoided. In other words, based on information gathered from such routineexperiments, one skilled in the art can readily determine the aminoacids where further substitutions should be avoided either alone or incombination with other mutations.

A skilled artisan will be able to determine suitable variants of thepolypeptide as set forth herein using well-known techniques. In certainembodiments, one skilled in the art may identify suitable areas of themolecule that may be changed without destroying activity by targetingregions not believed to be important for activity. In certainembodiments, one can identify residues and portions of the moleculesthat are conserved among similar polypeptides. In certain embodiments,even areas that may be important for biological activity or forstructure may be subject to conservative amino acid substitutionswithout destroying the biological activity or without adverselyaffecting the polypeptide structure. Additionally, one skilled in theart can review structure-function studies identifying residues insimilar polypeptides that are important for activity or structure. Inview of such a comparison, one can predict the importance of amino acidresidues in a protein that correspond to amino acid residues which areimportant for activity or structure in similar proteins. One skilled inthe art may opt for chemically similar amino acid substitutions for suchpredicted important amino acid residues.

One skilled in the art can also analyze the three-dimensional structureand amino acid sequence in relation to that structure in similarpolypeptides. In view of such information, one skilled in the art maypredict the alignment of amino acid residues of an antibody with respectto its three dimensional structure. In certain embodiments, one skilledin the art may choose not to make radical changes to amino acid residuespredicted to be on the surface of the protein, since such residues maybe involved in important interactions with other molecules. A number ofscientific publications have been devoted to the prediction of secondarystructure. See Moult J., Curr. Op. in Biotech., 7(4):422-427 (1996),Chou et al., Biochemistry, 13(2):222-245 (1974); Chou et al.,Biochemistry, 113(2):211-222 (1974); Chou et al., Adv. Enzymol. Relat.Areas Mol. Biol., 47:45-148 (1978); Chou et al., Ann. Rev. Biochem.,47:251-276 and Chou et al., Biophys. J., 26:367-384 (1979). Moreover,computer programs are currently available to assist with predictingsecondary structure. One method of predicting secondary structure isbased upon homology modeling. For example, two polypeptides or proteinswhich have a sequence identity of greater than 30%, or similaritygreater than 40% often have similar structural topologies. The recentgrowth of the protein structural database (PDB) has provided enhancedpredictability of secondary structure, including the potential number offolds within a polypeptide's or protein's structure. See Holm et al.,Nucl. Acid. Res., 27(1):244-247 (1999). It has been suggested (Brenneret al., Curr. Op. Struct. Biol., 7(3):369-376 (1997)) that there are alimited number of folds in a given polypeptide or protein and that oncea critical number of structures have been resolved, structuralprediction will become dramatically more accurate.

Additional methods of predicting secondary structure include “threading”(Jones, D., Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol., 7(3):377-87 (1997); Sippl et al.,Structure, 4(1):15-19 (1996)), “profile analysis” (Bowie et al.,Science, 253:164-170 (1991); Gribskov et al., Meth. Enzym., 183:146-159(1990); Gribskov et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 84(13):4355-4358(1987)), and “evolutionary linkage” (See Holm, supra (1999), andBrenner, supra (1997)). In certain embodiments, variants of antibodiesinclude glycosylation variants wherein the number and/or type ofglycosylation site has been altered compared to the amino acid sequencesof a parent polypeptide. In certain embodiments, variants comprise agreater or a lesser number of N-linked glycosylation sites than thenative protein. Alternatively, substitutions which eliminate thissequence will remove an existing N-linked carbohydrate chain. Alsoprovided is a rearrangement of N-linked carbohydrate chains wherein oneor more N-linked glycosylation sites (typically those that are naturallyoccurring) are eliminated and one or more new N-linked sites arecreated. Additional preferred antibody variants include cysteinevariants wherein one or more cysteine residues are deleted from orsubstituted for another amino acid (e.g., serine) as compared to theparent amino acid sequence. Cysteine variants may be useful whenantibodies must be refolded into a biologically active conformation suchas after the isolation of insoluble inclusion bodies. Cysteine variantsgenerally have fewer cysteine residues than the native protein, andtypically have an even number to minimize interactions resulting fromunpaired cysteines.

Desired amino acid substitutions (whether conservative ornon-conservative) can be determined by those skilled in the art at thetime such substitutions are desired. In certain embodiments, amino acidsubstitutions can be used to identify important residues of antibodiesto human glucagon receptor, or to increase or decrease the affinity ofthe antibodies to human glucagon receptor described herein.

According to certain embodiments, preferred amino acid substitutions arethose which: (1) reduce susceptibility to proteolysis, (2) reducesusceptibility to oxidation, (3) alter binding affinity for formingprotein complexes, (4) alter binding affinities, and/or (4) confer ormodify other physiochemical or functional properties on suchpolypeptides. According to certain embodiments, single or multiple aminoacid substitutions (in certain embodiments, conservative amino acidsubstitutions) may be made in the naturally-occurring sequence (incertain embodiments, in the portion of the polypeptide outside thedomain(s) forming intermolecular contacts). In certain embodiments, aconservative amino acid substitution typically may not substantiallychange the structural characteristics of the parent sequence (e.g., areplacement amino acid should not tend to break a helix that occurs inthe parent sequence, or disrupt other types of secondary structure thatcharacterizes the parent sequence). Examples of art-recognizedpolypeptide secondary and tertiary structures are described in Proteins,Structures and Molecular Principles (Creighton, Ed., W. H. Freeman andCompany, New York (1984)); Introduction to Protein Structure (C. Brandenand J. Tooze, eds., Garland Publishing, New York, N.Y. (1991)); andThornton et al. Nature 354:105 (1991), which are each incorporatedherein by reference.

In certain embodiments, antibodies of the invention may be chemicallybonded with polymers, lipids, or other moieties.

The antigen binding agents may comprise at least one of the CDRsdescribed herein incorporated into a biocompatible framework structure.In one example, the biocompatible framework structure comprises apolypeptide or portion thereof that is sufficient to form aconformationally stable structural support, or framework, or scaffold,which is able to display one or more sequences of amino acids that bindto an antigen (e.g., CDRs, a variable region, etc.) in a localizedsurface region. Such structures can be a naturally occurring polypeptideor polypeptide “fold” (a structural motif), or can have one or moremodifications, such as additions, deletions or substitutions of aminoacids, relative to a naturally occurring polypeptide or fold. Thesescaffolds can be derived from a polypeptide of any species (or of morethan one species), such as a human, other mammal, other vertebrate,invertebrate, plant, bacteria or virus.

Typically the biocompatible framework structures are based on proteinscaffolds or skeletons other than immunoglobulin domains. For example,those based on fibronectin, ankyrin, lipocalin, neocarzinostain,cytochrome b, CP1 zinc finger, PST1, coiled coil, LACI-D1, Z domain andtendamistat domains may be used (See e.g., Nygren and Uhlen, 1997,Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 7, 463-469).

Additionally, one skilled in the art will recognize that suitablebinding agents include portions of these antibodies, such as one or moreof heavy chain CDR1, CDR2, CDR3, light chain CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 asspecifically disclosed herein. At least one of the regions of heavychain CDR1, CDR2, CDR3, CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 may have at least one aminoacid substitution, provided that the antibody retains the bindingspecificity of the non-substituted CDR. The non-CDR portion of theantibody may be a non-protein molecule, wherein the binding agentcross-blocks the binding of an antibody disclosed herein to human GCGRand/or inhibits the activity of glucagon signalling through thereceptor. The non-CDR portion of the antibody may be a non-proteinmolecule in which the antibody exhibits a similar binding pattern tohuman GCGR peptides in a competition binding assay as that exhibited byat least one of antibodies A1-A23, and/or neutralizes the activity ofglucagon. The non-CDR portion of the antibody may be composed of aminoacids, wherein the antibody is a recombinant binding protein or asynthetic peptide, and the recombinant binding protein cross-blocks thebinding of an antibody disclosed herein to human GCGR and/or neutralizesglucagon activity in vitro or in vivo. The non-CDR portion of theantibody may be composed of amino acids, wherein the antibody is arecombinant antibody, and the recombinant antibody exhibits a similarbinding pattern to human GCGR peptides in a competition binding assay asexhibited by at least one of the antibodies A1-A23, and/or neutralizesglucagon signalling.

Nucleic Acids

In one aspect, the present invention provides isolated nucleic acidmolecules that encode the antigen binding agents of the presentinvention. In addition, provided are vectors comprising the nucleicacids, cell comprising the nucleic acids, and methods of making theantigen binding proteins of the invention. The nucleic acids comprise,for example, polynucleotides that encode all or part of an antigenbinding protein, for example, one or both chains of an antibody of theinvention, or a fragment, derivative, mutein, or variant thereof,polynucleotides sufficient for use as hybridization probes, PCR primersor sequencing primers for identifying, analyzing, mutating or amplifyinga polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide, anti-sense nucleic acids forinhibiting expression of a polynucleotide, and complementary sequencesof the foregoing. The nucleic acids can be any length. They can be, forexample, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175,200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500, 750, 1,000, 1,500, 3,000, 5,000 ormore nucleotides in length, and/or can comprise one or more additionalsequences, for example, regulatory sequences, and/or be part of a largernucleic acid, for example, a vector. The nucleic acids can besingle-stranded or double-stranded and can comprise RNA and/or DNAnucleotides, and artificial variants thereof (e.g., peptide nucleicacids).

Nucleic acids encoding antibody polypeptides (e.g., heavy or lightchain, variable domain only, or full length) may be isolated fromB-cells of mice that have been immunized with GCGR antigen. The nucleicacid may be isolated by conventional procedures such as polymerase chainreaction (PCR).

Nucleic acid sequences encoding the variable regions of the heavy andlight chain variable regions are shown above. The skilled artisan willappreciate that, due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, each of thepolypeptide sequences disclosed herein is encoded by a large number ofother nucleic acid sequences. The present invention provides eachdegenerate nucleotide sequence encoding each antigen binding protein ofthe invention.

The invention further provides nucleic acids that hybridize to othernucleic acids (e.g., nucleic acids comprising a nucleotide sequence ofany of A1-A14) under particular hybridization conditions. Methods forhybridizing nucleic acids are well-known in the art. See, e.g., CurrentProtocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, N.Y. (1989),6.3.1-6.3.6. As defined herein, for example, a moderately stringenthybridization condition uses a prewashing solution containing 5× sodiumchloride/sodium citrate (SSC), 0.5% SDS, 1.0 mM EDTA (pH 8.0),hybridization buffer of about 50% formamide, 6×SSC, and a hybridizationtemperature of 55° C. (or other similar hybridization solutions, such asone containing about 50% formamide, with a hybridization temperature of42° C.), and washing conditions of 60° C., in 0.5×SSC, 0.1% SDS. Astringent hybridization condition hybridizes in 6×SSC at 45° C.,followed by one or more washes in 0.1×SSC, 0.2% SDS at 68° C.Furthermore, one of skill in the art can manipulate the hybridizationand/or washing conditions to increase or decrease the stringency ofhybridization such that nucleic acids comprising nucleotide sequencesthat are at least 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 98 or 99% identical toeach other typically remain hybridized to each other. The basicparameters affecting the choice of hybridization conditions and guidancefor devising suitable conditions are set forth by, for example,Sambrook, Fritsch, and Maniatis (1989, Molecular Cloning: A LaboratoryManual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.,chapters 9 and 11; and Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, 1995,Ausubel et al., eds., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., sections 2.10 and6.3-6.4), and can be readily determined by those having ordinary skillin the art based on, for example, the length and/or base composition ofthe DNA. Changes can be introduced by mutation into a nucleic acid,thereby leading to changes in the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide(e.g., an antigen binding protein) that it encodes. Mutations can beintroduced using any technique known in the art. In one embodiment, oneor more particular amino acid residues are changed using, for example, asite-directed mutagenesis protocol. In another embodiment, one or morerandomly selected residues is changed using, for example, a randommutagenesis protocol. However it is made, a mutant polypeptide can beexpressed and screened for a desired property.

Mutations can be introduced into a nucleic acid without significantlyaltering the biological activity of a polypeptide that it encodes. Forexample, one can make nucleotide substitutions leading to amino acidsubstitutions at non-essential amino acid residues. In one embodiment, anucleotide sequence provided herein for L-1-L-23 and H-1 to H-23, or adesired fragment, variant, or derivative thereof, is mutated such thatit encodes an amino acid sequence comprising one or more deletions orsubstitutions of amino acid residues that are shown herein for L-1 toL-23 and H-1 to H-23 to be residues where two or more sequences differ.In another embodiment, the mutagenesis inserts an amino acid adjacent toone or more amino acid residues shown herein for L-1 to L-23 and H-1 toH-23 to be residues where two or more sequences differ. Alternatively,one or more mutations can be introduced into a nucleic acid thatselectively change the biological activity. (e.g., binding to GCGR) of apolypeptide that it encodes. For example, the mutation canquantitatively or qualitatively change the biological activity. Examplesof quantitative changes include increasing, reducing or eliminating theactivity. Examples of qualitative changes include changing the antigenspecificity of an antigen binding protein.

In another aspect, the present invention provides nucleic acid moleculesthat are suitable for use as primers or hybridization probes for thedetection of nucleic acid sequences of the invention. A nucleic acidmolecule of the invention can comprise only a portion of a nucleic acidsequence encoding a full-length polypeptide of the invention, forexample, a fragment that can be used as a probe or primer or a fragmentencoding an active portion (e.g., a GCGR binding portion) of apolypeptide of the invention.

Probes based on the sequence of a nucleic acid of the invention can beused to detect the nucleic acid or similar nucleic acids, for example,transcripts encoding a polypeptide of the invention. The probe cancomprise a label group, e.g., a radioisotope, a fluorescent compound, anenzyme, or an enzyme co-factor. Such probes can be used to identify acell that expresses the polypeptide.

In another aspect, the present invention provides vectors comprising anucleic acid encoding a polypeptide of the invention or a portionthereof. Examples of vectors include, but are not limited to, plasmids,viral vectors, non-episomal mammalian vectors and expression vectors,for example, recombinant expression vectors.

The recombinant expression vectors of the invention can comprise anucleic acid of the invention in a form suitable for expression of thenucleic acid in a host cell. The recombinant expression vectors includeone or more regulatory sequences, selected on the basis of the hostcells to be used for expression, which is operably linked to the nucleicacid sequence to be expressed. Regulatory sequences include those thatdirect constitutive expression of a nucleotide sequence in many types ofhost cells (e.g., SV40 early gene enhancer, Rous sarcoma virus promoterand cytomegalovirus promoter), those that direct expression of thenucleotide sequence only in certain host cells (e.g., tissue-specificregulatory sequences, see Voss et al., 1986, Trends Biochem. Sci.11:287, Maniatis et al., 1987, Science 236:1237, incorporated byreference herein in their entireties), and those that direct inducibleexpression of a nucleotide sequence in response to particular treatmentor condition (e.g., the metallothionin promoter in mammalian cells andthe tet-responsive and/or streptomycin responsive promoter in bothprokaryotic and eukaryotic systems (see id.). It will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that the design of the expression vector candepend on such factors as the choice of the host cell to be transformed,the level of expression of protein desired, etc. The expression vectorsof the invention can be introduced into host cells to thereby produceproteins or peptides, including fusion proteins or peptides, encoded bynucleic acids as described herein.

In another aspect, the present invention provides host cells into whicha recombinant expression vector of the invention has been introduced. Ahost cell can be any prokaryotic cell or eukaryotic cell. Prokaryotichost cells include gram negative or gram positive organisms, for exampleE. coli or bacilli. Higher eukaryotic cells include insect cells, yeastcells, and established cell lines of mammalian origin. Examples ofsuitable mammalian host cell lines include Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)cells or their derivatives such as Veggie CHO and related cell lineswhich grow in serum-free media (see Rasmussen et al., 1998,Cytotechnology 28:31) or CHO strain DXB-11, which is deficient in DHFR(see Urlaub et al., 1980, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77:4216-20).Additional CHO cell lines include CHO-K1 (ATCC#CCL-61), EM9 (ATCC#CRL-1861), and W20 (ATCC# CRL-1862). Additional host cells include theCOS-7 line of monkey kidney cells (ATCC CRL 1651) (see Gluzman et al.,1981, Cell 23:175), L cells, C127 cells, 3T3 cells (ATCC CCL 163),AM-1/D cells (described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,924), HeLa cells, BHK(ATCC CRL 10) cell lines, the CV1/EBNA cell line derived from theAfrican green monkey kidney cell line CV1 (ATCC CCL 70) (see McMahan etal., 1991, EMBO J. 10:2821), human embryonic kidney cells such as 293,293 EBNA or MSR 293, human epidermal A431 cells, human Colo205 cells,other transformed primate cell lines, normal diploid cells, cell strainsderived from in vitro culture of primary tissue, primary explants,HL-60, U937, HaK or Jurkat cells. Appropriate cloning and expressionvectors for use with bacterial, fungal, yeast, and mammalian cellularhosts are described by Pouwels et al. (Cloning Vectors: A LaboratoryManual, Elsevier, N.Y., 1985).

Vector DNA can be introduced into prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells viaconventional transformation or transfection techniques. For stabletransfection of mammalian cells, it is known that, depending upon theexpression vector and transfection technique used, only a small fractionof cells may integrate the foreign DNA into their genome. In order toidentify and select these integrants, a gene that encodes a selectablemarker (e.g., for resistance to antibiotics) is generally introducedinto the host cells along with the gene of interest. Preferredselectable markers include those which confer resistance to drugs, suchas G418, hygromycin and methotrexate. Cells stably transfected with theintroduced nucleic acid can be identified by drug selection (e.g., cellsthat have incorporated the selectable marker gene will survive, whilethe other cells die), among other methods.

The transformed cells can be cultured under conditions that promoteexpression of the polypeptide, and the polypeptide recovered byconventional protein purification procedures. One such purificationprocedure is described in the Examples below. Polypeptides contemplatedfor use herein include substantially homogeneous recombinant mammaliananti-glucagon receptor antibody polypeptides substantially free ofcontaminating endogenous materials.

Cells containing the nucleic acid encoding the antigen binding proteinsof the present invention also include hybridomas. The production andculturing of hybridomas are discussed in the antibody section above.

Activity of Antigen Binding Proteins

In one aspect, the present invention provides antigen binding proteins,in particular human, humanized, or chimeric antibodies, thatspecifically bind to the human glucagon receptor. Such antibodiesinclude antagonizing or neutralizing antibodies capable of reducing orneutralizing glucagon signalling, as determined, for example, by thecell based functional assay described in Example 4. In one embodiment,the antigen binding proteins, such as the human antibodies of thepresent invention have an IC50 value of 90 nM or less, in anotherembodiment, an IC50 value of 80 nM or less, in another embodiment, 70 nMor less, in another embodiment, 60 nM or less, in another embodiment, 50nM or less, in another embodiment, 40 nM or less, in another embodiment,30 nM or less, in another embodiment 25 nM or less. In anotherembodiment, the antigen binding proteins such as the human antibodies ofthe present invention are capable of specifically binding to the humanglucagon receptor, and have an IC50 value that is substantially similarto that of a reference antibody. In another embodiment, the antigenbinding proteins have a Kb (or Kd) as measured by the assay described inthe Examples below (or similar assays), that is substantially similar tothat of a reference antibody. As used herein, the term “substantiallysimilar” means comparable to, or about 100%, 99%, 98%, 97%, 95%, 90%,85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65% or 50% identical to the IC50 or Kb (or Kd) valueof the reference antibody. Reference antibodies include, for example,antibodies having a combination of heavy chain and light chains L1H1,L2H2, L3H3, L4H4, L5H5, L6H6, L7H7, L8H8, L9H9, L11H11, L12H12, L13H13,L15H15, L21H21, and L22H22. In one embodiment, the reference antibodiesinclude A-1, A-2, A-3, A4, A-5, A-6, A-7, A-8, A-9, A-11, A-12, A-13,A-15, A-21, and A-22. In another embodiment, the antigen bindingproteins such as the human antibodies of the present invention arecapable of specifically binding to the human glucagon receptor, andlowering blood glucose in an animal model. In one embodiment, the bloodglucose is lowered by 2% compared with untreated animals, in anotherembodiment the blood glucose is lowered by 5% compared with untreatedanimals, in another embodiment, the blood glucose is lowered by 10%compared to untreated animal, in another embodiment, the blood glucoseis lowered by 15%, in another embodiment, by 20%, in another embodiment,by 25% or more, compared with untreated animals. The amount of reductionof blood glucose is controlled by dosage. A therapeutically effectivedosage is the dosage required to reduce blood glucose into the normalrange for the animal or human patient. An exemplary animal model is theob/ob mouse, as described in Example 6 below. In another embodiment, thehuman antibodies of the present invention are capable of specificallybinding to the human glucagon receptor, and improving glucose clearancein an animal model. An exemplary animal model is the cynomolgus monkey,as described in Example 7 below. Improving glucose clearance refers tothe amount of time it takes to reduce blood glucose after an oralglucose challenge given to the animal or human patient, and is a measureof glucose tolerance. This is measured by standard tests such as oralglucose tolerance test (OGTT), as described in the example below. Theantigen binding proteins of the present invention can improve glucosetolerance in the animal model. In addition, the antigen binding proteinscan improve other in vivo indicators associated with type 2 diabetes andhyperglycemia, including but not limited to fasting glucose tolerance,dyslipodemia, and metabolic syndrome.

Binding to Human Glucagon Receptor

In one embodiment, the present invention provides antigen bindingproteins that cross-competes for binding with a reference antibody,wherein the reference antibody comprises a combination of light chainand heavy chain variable domain sequences selected from the groupconsisting of L1H1, L2H2, L3H3, L4H4, L5H5, L6H6, L7H7, L8H8, L9H9,L11H11, L12H12, L13H13, L15H15, L17H17, L21H21 and L22H22. In anotherembodiment, the present invention provides human antibodies thatcross-competes for binding with a reference antibody, wherein thereference antibody is A-1, A-2, A-3, A4, A-5, A-6, A-7, A-8, A-9, A-11,A-12, A-13, A-15, A-21, and A-22. In another aspect, the presentinvention provides human antibodies that bind to the Ser80 to Ser119region of the human glucagon receptor. In another embodiment, thepresent invention provides human antibodies that cross-compete forbinding with a reference antibody, wherein the reference antibody bindsto the Ser80 to Ser119 region of the human glucagon receptor. In anotherembodiment, the present invention provides human antibodies that bind toSer80 to Ser119 region of the glucagon receptor, and have an IC50 valueof 90 nM or less, in another embodiment 80 nM or less, in anotherembodiment, 70 nM or less, in another embodiment, 60 nM or less, inanother embodiment, 50 nM or less, in another embodiment, 40 nM or less,in another embodiment, 30 nM or less, in another embodiment, 25 nM orless, as determined, for example, in the assay set out in Example 4. Inanother embodiment, the present invention provides human antibodies thatcross-competes for binding to the human glucagon receptor with areference antibody, wherein the reference antibody is A-3.

In a further embodiment, the antigen binding proteins, when bound to thehuman glucagon receptor binds to the human glucagon receptor withsubstantially the same Kd as a reference antibody; inhibits glucagonstimulation of the human glucagon receptor with substantially the sameIC₅₀ as said reference antibody; and/or cross-competes for binding withsaid reference antibody on human glucagon receptor, wherein saidreference antibody comprises a combination of light chain and heavychain variable domain sequences selected from the group consisting ofL1H1, L2H2, L3H3, L4H4, L5H5, L6H6, L7H7, L8H8, L9H9, L11H11, L12H12,L13H13, L15H15, L21H21, and L22H22.

In a further embodiment, an isolated human antibody is provided that,when bound to the human glucagon receptor: binds to the human glucagonreceptor with substantially the same Kd as a reference antibody;inhibits glucagon stimulation of the human glucagon receptor withsubstantially the same IC₅₀ as said reference antibody; and/orcross-competes for binding with said reference antibody on humanglucagon receptor, wherein said reference antibody is selected from thegroup consisting of A-1, A-2, A-3, A4, A-5, A-6, A-7, A-8, A-9, A-11,A-12, A-13, A-15, A-21, and A-22.

In a further embodiment, an isolated human antibody is provided that,when bound to the human glucagon receptor: a. specifically binds to theamino acid Ser80 to Ser119 portion of the human glucagon receptor; b.reduces glucagon signalling with an IC50 value of 90 nM or less; c.lowers blood glucose in an animal model; (a) and (b); or (a), (b) and(c).

The ability to cross-compete with an antibody can be determined usingany suitable assay, such as that described in Example 8, an exemplarycompetitive binding assay using A-3 as the reference antibody. Theantibodies tested were surmountable, those that could compete forbinding with A-3, partially surmountable, those that could onlypartially compete for binding, and the unsurmountable antibodies, thosethat did not compete for binding with A-3. The results are shown inFIGS. 4-6.

In addition, site of binding on the human glucagon receptor of humanantibody A-3 and other human antibodies were determining by constructingchimeric receptors using human GCGR and human GLP-1 receptors, asdescribed in Example 9 below. Using the chimeric receptors, as describedbelow, and as shown in FIG. 7, it was determined that for antibody A-3,the region of the human glucagon receptor amino acids Ser80 to Ser117were necessary and sufficient for binding. In addition, the human GCGRcontains 3 pairs of cysteines. For antibody A-3, the second and thirdpairs of cysteines but not the first pair was needed for binding. Thiswas in contrast to antibodies A-18, A-21 and A-10, which bound only whenthe 3 pairs of cysteines were intact.

Indications

Diabetes, in particular type 2 diabetes, and its complications are agrowing problem for populations world-wide. Generally, this diseaseresults from impaired insulin production from pancreatic β-cells. Intype 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, a combination ofgenetic and environmental factors is thought to bring about β-cellfailure, which results in impaired insulin secretion and activity, andinsulin resistance in many individuals. Obesity is one condition thoughtto contribute to the increase in type 2 diabetes in adults and evenchildren. It is also known that dyslipodemia, or abnormal HDL (highdensity lipoprotein), and LDL (low density lipoprotein) is related totype 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by the failure of muscles and otherorgans to respond to normal circulating concentrations of insulin. Thisis followed by an increase in insulin secretion from pancreatic betacells, a condition known as hyperinsulinemia. Ultimately, the beta cellscan no longer compensate, leading to impaired glucose tolerance,impaired fasting glucose levels, chronic hyperglycemia and tissuedamage. In addition, type 2 diabetes is known to be related todyslipodemia, or abnormal HDL (high density lipoprotein), and LDL (lowdensity lipoprotein). Both dyslipodemia and hyperglycemia are present inpatients suffering from metabolic syndrome.

The present invention provides antigen binding proteins, in particular,human antibodies that can bind to the glucagon receptor in vivo andreduce blood glucose levels in animal models. The antigen bindingproteins can also improve glucose tolerance. In one embodiment, thepresent invention provides fully human antibodies having in vivoefficacy. The effect of single antibody injection in ob/ob mice, forexample, lowers blood glucose for several days after injection,providing an effective, long-lasting treatment for hyperglycemia, type 2diabetes, and related disorders. A single antibody injection alsoimproved glucose clearance (improved glucose tolerance) from the bloodin glucose tolerance tests (GTT) performed on cynomolgus monkeys asdescribed below. The antigen binding proteins, and in particular, thehuman antibodies of the present invention are useful for lowering bloodor serum glucose, improving impaired glucose tolerance, improvingfasting glucose levels, improving dyslipodemia. Thus the antigen bindingproteins, in particular the human antibodies of the present inventionare useful for treating hyperglycemia, type 2 diabetes, metabolicsyndrome, dyslipodemia, impaired glucose tolerance, impaired fastingglucose, and hyperinsulinemia. In addition, lowering blood glucose hasbeen shown to be useful in some circumstances in the prevention andtreatment of certain cancers such as colorectal cancers, as discussed inRichardson et al, Nature Clin Pract Oncol 2: 48-53 (2005), Giovannucciet al. Gastroenterology 132: 2208-2225 (2007), Krone et al, IntegrativeCancer Ther 4(1): 25-31 (2005), Chang et al., Diabetologia 46(5):595-607 (2003), Jee et al, Yonsei Med J 46(4): 449-55 (2005).

Methods of Treatment

In another aspect, a method of treating a subject, comprisingadministering a therapeutic dosage of the antigen binding proteins ofthe present invention is provided. In one embodiment, the antigenbinding proteins are human antibodies. As used herein the term “subject”refers to a mammal, including humans, and is used interchangeably withthe term “patient”. The human antibodies, can be used to treat, controlor prevent a disorder or condition characterized by excessive levels ofglucagon and/or blood glucose in a subject. These disorders includehyperglycemia, impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance,hyperinsulinemia, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. The term“treatment” encompasses alleviation or prevention of at least onesymptom or other aspect of a disorder, or reduction of disease severity,and the like. An antigen binding protein, in particular a human antibodyaccording to the present invention, need not effect a complete cure, oreradicate every symptom or manifestation of a disease, to constitute aviable therapeutic agent. As is recognized in the pertinent field, drugsemployed as therapeutic agents may reduce the severity of a givendisease state, but need not abolish every manifestation of the diseaseto be regarded as useful therapeutic agents. Similarly, aprophylactically administered treatment need not be completely effectivein preventing the onset of a condition in order to constitute a viableprophylactic agent. Simply reducing the impact of a disease (forexample, by reducing the number or severity of its symptoms, or byincreasing the effectiveness of another treatment, or by producinganother beneficial effect), or reducing the likelihood that the diseasewill occur or worsen in a subject, is sufficient. One embodiment of theinvention is directed to a method comprising administering to a patientan antigen binding protein such as a human antibody in an amount and fora time sufficient to induce a sustained improvement over baseline of anindicator that reflects the severity of the particular disorder.

As is understood in the pertinent field, pharmaceutical compositionscomprising the antigen binding proteins of the invention areadministered to a subject in a manner appropriate to the indication andthe composition. In one embodiment, pharmaceutical compositions comprisethe human antibodies of the present invention. Pharmaceuticalcompositions may be administered by any suitable technique, includingbut not limited to parenterally, topically, or by inhalation. Ifinjected, the pharmaceutical composition can be administered, forexample, via intra-articular, intravenous, intramuscular, intralesional,intraperitoneal or subcutaneous routes, by bolus injection, orcontinuous infusion. Delivery by inhalation includes, for example, nasalor oral inhalation, use of a nebulizer, inhalation of the antigenbinding protein in aerosol form, and the like. Other alternativesinclude oral preparations including pills, syrups, or lozenges.

Advantageously, the antigen binding proteins of the invention, areadministered in the form of a composition comprising one or moreadditional components such as a physiologically acceptable carrier,excipient or diluent. Optionally, the composition additionally comprisesone or more physiologically active agents, for example, as describedbelow. In various particular embodiments, the composition comprises one,two, three, four, five, or six physiologically active agents in additionto one or more antigen binding proteins (e.g, human antibodies) of thepresent invention.

In one embodiment, the pharmaceutical composition comprises a humanantibody of the invention together with one or more substances selectedfrom the group consisting of a buffer suitable for antibodies at asuitable pH, an antioxidant such as ascorbic acid, a low molecularweight polypeptide (such as those having fewer than 10 amino acids), aprotein, an amino acid, a carbohydrate such as dextrin, a chelatingagent such as EDTA, glutathione, a stabilizer, and an excipient. Inaccordance with appropriate industry standards, preservatives may alsobe added. The composition may be formulated as a lyophilizate usingappropriate excipient solutions as diluents. Suitable components arenontoxic to recipients at the dosages and concentrations employed.Further examples of components that may be employed in pharmaceuticalformulations are presented in Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences,16^(th) Ed. (1980) and 20^(th) Ed. (2000), Mack Publishing Company,Easton, Pa.

Kits for use by medical practitioners are provided including one or moreantigen binding proteins of the invention and a label or otherinstructions for use in treating any of the conditions discussed herein.In one embodiment, the kit includes a sterile preparation of one or morehuman antibodies, which may be in the form of a composition as disclosedabove, and may be in one or more vials.

Dosages and the frequency of administration may vary according to suchfactors as the route of administration, the particular antibodiesemployed, the nature and severity of the disease to be treated, whetherthe condition is acute or chronic, and the size and general condition ofthe subject. Appropriate dosages can be determined by procedures knownin the pertinent art, e.g. in clinical trials that may involve doseescalation studies.

An antigen binding protein, in particular, the human antibodies, of theinvention may be administered, for example, once or more than once,e.g., at regular intervals over a period of time. In particularembodiments, a human antibody is administered over a period of at leastonce a month or more, e.g., for one, two, or three months or evenindefinitely. For treating chronic conditions, long-term treatment isgenerally most effective. However, for treating acute conditions,administration for shorter periods, e.g. from one to six weeks, may besufficient. In general, the human antibody is administered until thepatient manifests a medically relevant degree of improvement overbaseline for the chosen indicator or indicators.

One example of therapeutic regimens provided herein comprisesubcutaneous injection of an antigen binding protein such as a humanantibody once a week, or once every two weeks, at an appropriate dosage,to treat a condition in which blood glucose levels play a role. Weeklyor monthly administration of antigen binding protein would be continueduntil a desired result is achieved, e.g., the subject's symptomssubside. Treatment may resume as needed, or, alternatively, maintenancedoses may be administered.

A subject's levels of blood glucose may be monitored before, duringand/or after treatment with an antigen binding protein such as a humanantibody, to detect changes, if any, in their levels. For somedisorders, the incidence of elevated blood glucose may vary according tosuch factors as the stage of the disease. Known techniques may beemployed for measuring glucose levels. Glucagon levels may also bemeasured in the patient's blood using know techniques, for example,ELISA.

Particular embodiments of methods and compositions of the inventioninvolve the use of an antigen binding protein such as a human antibodyand one or more glucagon antagonists for example, two or more antigenbinding proteins of the invention, or an antigen binding protein of theinvention and one or more other glucagon antagonists. In furtherembodiments, antigen binding protein are administered alone or incombination with other agents useful for treating the condition withwhich the patient is afflicted. Examples of such agents include bothproteinaceous and non-proteinaceous drugs. When multiple therapeuticsare co-administered, dosages may be adjusted accordingly, as isrecognized in the pertinent art. “Co-administration” and combinationtherapy are not limited to simultaneous administration, but also includetreatment regimens in which an antigen binding protein is administeredat least once during a course of treatment that involves administeringat least one other therapeutic agent to the patient.

Combination Therapies

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of treating asubject for diabetes with a therapeutic antigen binding protein of thepresent invention, such as the fully human therapeutic antibodiesdescribed herein, together with one or more other treatments. In oneembodiment, such a combination therapy achieves a synergistic effect.The antigen binding proteins may be in combination with one or more ofthe following type 2 diabetes treatments currently available. Theseinclude biguanide (metaformin), and sulfonylureas (such as glyburide,glipizide). Additional treatments directed at maintaining glucosehomeostasis including PPAR gamma antagonists (pioglitazone,rosiglitazone); and alpha glucosidase inhibitors (acarbose, voglibose).Additional treatments include injectable treatments such as Exenatide®(glucagon-like peptide), and Symlin® (pramlintide).

The invention having been described, the following examples are offeredby way of illustration, and not limitation.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Preparation of Antigen

Human GCGR cDNA encoding the full-length 477 amino acid glucagonreceptor (SEQ ID NO: 2) was subcloned into the pDC312 expression vectorand transfected into AM1D cells. After selection and single cellcloning, a single clone (clone 1004) was chosen for furthercharacterization based on cell surface expression of the receptor. Thereceptor expression level (B_(max)) as determined by saturation bindinganalysis was 11.4 pmole of glucagon receptor/mg membrane protein.

In addition, a cDNA sequence coding an N-terminal GCGR (amino acid 1 to142 of SEQ ID NO: 2) was in frame fused to cDNA of human IgG1 Fc andsubcloned into pDsRa21 vector (described in U.S. 2005/0118643). A stablepool of cells was selected after transfection into AM1D cell. GCGRN-terminal Fc was purified from concentrated conditioned media byrecombinant Protein A Fast flow column (GE Healthcare) and followed bySource 30Q anion exchange column (GE Healthcare).

Example 2 Mouse Anti-Human Hybridoma Generation

Crude cell membrane fractions from clone 1004 as described above wereused as the antigen for both conventional and RIMMS (Rapid Immunizationwith Multiple sites injection) immunization of C57BL/6 or DBF1 mice(Jackson Laboratories, Bar Harbor, Me.). After several rounds ofimmunization, lymphocytes were released from the lymph nodes (RIMMSimmunization) or spleen (conventional immunization) and were fused withmouse myeloma cells, Sp2/0-Ag14 (ATCC) by electrofusion. The fused cellswere seeded in 96-well plates at the density of 2×10⁴ cells/well in 100ul of BD media supplemented with 10% FBS, 5% Origen Cloning Factor(BioVeris™), 1× Penicillin-Streptomycin-Glutamine (Gibco), and 1×OPI(oxaloacetate, pyruvate, and insulin, Sigma). After 24 hrs in culture,100 ul of 2×HAT (0.1 mM hypoxanthine, 0.16 mM thymidine, 4 mMaminopterin, Sigma) was added to each well. Medium was changed 7 daysand 10 days post fusion respectively and the conditioned media werecollected two days after the 2^(nd) media change and sent for primaryscreening as described below.

Hybridoma supernatants were subjected for the cell based ELISA(Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) or FMAT (Fluorometric MicrovolumeAssay Technology) with 1004 cell and in parallel with parental AM1Dcells. The hybridoma clones containing GCGR-specific antibodies wereselected based on the specific binding to 1004 but not AM1D.

Monoclonal antibodies were partially purified from the expandedhybridoma cultures as described below and assayed using the both binding(ELISA or FMAT) and functional cell-based assays for neutralization ofglucagon-induced cAMP production, as described below. Positive cloneswere expanded, single-cell cloned, and further confirmed by multipleassays

Example 3 Fully Human Antibody Generation

The human GCGR high expresser cell line 1004 derived crude cell membranepreparation was used as the antigen for immunizing IgG2 and IgG4XenoMouse® (Abgenix, now Amgen, Inc.) according to protocols described,for example in U.S. 05/0118643 and WO 05/694879, WO 98/24838, WO00/76310, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,064,244, all of which are hereinincorporated by reference. A total of two campaigns were conducted.After the initial immunization, subsequent rounds of boosterimmunizations were administered until a suitable antibody titer wasachieved. Animals exhibiting a suitable titer were identified, andlymphocytes were obtained from draining lymph nodes and if necessary,pooled from each cohort. In some instances, lymphocytes were dissociatedfrom lymphoid tissue by grinding with a suitable media (for example,DMEM, Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) to release the cells from thetissue. B cells were selected and fused with a suitable fusion partners,for example such as nonsecretory myelomas P3X63Ag8.653 cells (AmericanType Culture Collection CRL 1580, Kerney et al, J. Immunol. 123,1548-1550 (1979)), as described in the references above. Other suitablefusion partners include Sp2/0-Ag14 (ATCC) cells. Fused cells werepelleted and resuspended in selection media (typically, DMEM containingazaserine and hypozanthine and other supplemental materials), incubatedfor 20-30 minutes and then resuspended in selection media and culturedprior to plating. Cells were then distributed into wells to maximizeclonality and cultured using standard techniques. After culturing,hybridoma supernatants were screened against enriched glucagon receptorcell clone 1004 and parental cell lines AM1D using FMAT. The GCGRspecific binders were subsequently confirmed by FACS analysis withFITC-labeled (fluoroescein isothiocynate conjugated) anti-human IgGantibody. The hybridoma clones containing receptor specific monoclonalantibodies were expanded according to the protocols described in U.S2005/0118643 and other references cited above. Supernatants were testedfor the inhibition of glucagon-induced cAMP production as describedbelow. The hybridoma clones containing the antagonizing antibody weresingle-cell cloned and expanded for further testing. The antibodies werethen purified as described below and purified antibodies from thesesingle clones were then tested again for neutralizing activity.

Antibodies were purified from conditioned media of the hybridomas usingMab Select (GE Healthcare) resin. 100 ul of a 1:2 slurry of Mab Selectresin equilibrated in PBS was added to between 7 and 10 ml ofconditioned media (CM). The tubes were placed on rotators at 4-8° C.overnight. The tubes were centrifuged at 1,000×g for 5 minutes and thenon-bound fraction was decanted. The resin was washed with 5 ml of PBS,and centrifuged and decanted as above. The resin was then transferred toa SPIN-X, 0.45 um, 2 ml tube. The resin was washed an additional twotimes with 0.5 ml of PBS and centrifuged. The monoclonal antibodies wereeluted with 0.2 ml of 0.1M acetic acid by incubating at room temperaturewith occasional mixing for 10 minutes. The tubes were centrifuged, and30 ul of 1M Tris buffer Ph 8.0 is added to the eluate. Purifiedantibodies were stored 4-8° C.

Example 4 In vitro Characterization of Antibodies Antibody/ReceptorBinding Assays: Whole Cell Based ELISA

GCGR over-expressing CHO cells (clone 1004) and parental cells (AM1D)were seeded on microplates up to 90% confluence. Cells were blocked withBSA and incubated with the supernatants of hybridomas at 4° C. for 90mins. After intensive washing, cells were incubated with detectionantibody goat anti-murine IgG Fc-HRP (Pierce) and washed for threetimes. 50 ul/well of TMB substrate (KPL) was added and allowed toincubate at RT for 5-10 min. The reaction was stopped with the additionof 50 ul of 0.5N H2SO4 and the plate was read at 450 nm in a SpectraMax(Molecular Devices). The sera of GCGR membrane immunized mouse were usedas positive controls and media alone as background control.

Antibody/Receptor Binding Assays: FMAT

GCGR over-expressing CHO cells (clone 1004) were seeded in 96 well clearbottom, black wall microplates (Applied Biosystems) at sub-confluentdensity (50-60%) and incubated with the hybridoma supernatants at roomtemperature for 60 mins. The cell images and quantities of cell bindingfluorescence were recorded after incubating with FMAT blue labeledsecondary antibody (goat anti-human IgG, Applied Biosystems) using 8200Cellular Detection System (Applied Biosystems).

Cell Based Functional Assay

Anti-glucagon receptor antibodies were tested for their neutralizingactivity in a cell-based functional assay using stable functional celllines. Expression constructs (pcDNA3.1, Invitrogen) containing GCGRcDNAs from human, mouse, rat, cynomolgus or rat (cDNAs encoding SEQ IDNO: 2, 4, 6, 8 respectively) were transfected into CHO K1 cellsrespectively establishing stable cell lines. The final functional celllines expressing GCGR from abovementioned species were single cellcloned from the transfected pools and tested for glucagon stimulatedcAMP production. Based on EC₅₀ of each individual line, the final assaycell lines were selected and banked for future uses.

The following protocol was used to determine Kb, or the dissociationconstant of antibody binding as calculated by Schild analysis based onthe shift of a dose-response curve in the presence of an antagonist, ina competition binding assay. The use of the Schild analysis is describedLazaeno et al, Br. J. Pharmacol. 109(4):1110-9 (1993), which is herebyincorporated by reference. This assay is adapted from use for smallmolecules to use with antibodies herein. Both hybridoma supernatant andpurified antibodies were tested using the protocol below.

HTRF (Homogeneous Time-Resolved Fluorescence)-cAMP Dynamic kit fromCisbio was used for the functional assay. The hybridoma supernatantsfrom the clones shown specific binding to human GCGR in the bindingassay were first screened using functional assay. Antibodies were thenpurified from hybridoma conditioned media and retested for Kb and IC₅₀values. Antibodies that are glucagon antagonists, capable of inhibitionof cAMP production upon glucagon stimulation can be identified usingthis process.

The selected stable functional cell line as described above were seededinto 96-half well plate. The GCGR antibody was added into the wells andincubated at 37° C. for 20 minutes followed by addition of glucagon(Calbiochem) and incubation at 37° C. for additional 15 minutes. Afteradding the cAMP-conjugate in lysis buffer and then anti-cAMP-cryptate(antibody against cAMP conjugated to cryptate) into the wells, the platewas incubated at room temperature for 1 hour before being read withRubyStar (fluorescence microplate reader from BMG Labtech).

The purified antibodies were initially tested at 2 uM concentration withthe functional human GCGR cell line. The cells were stimulated with 50pM glucagon and antibodies showed strong inhibitory activity wereselected for the determination of IC₅₀ which is defined as concentrationof antibody required to inhibit half of maximum response over the baseline. The antibodies were tested from 1 uM concentration and followed bya sequential 2-fold of serial dilution. The dose response curve wasplotted and IC₅₀ was determined using GraphPad Prism software.Antibodies with the low IC₅₀ to human GCGR were selected and furthertested for cross-species receptor activities using the appropriate celllines.

IC₅₀ of Human Antibodies in Functional Assays

IC₅₀ (nM) Cynomolgus Antibody Human Monkey Murine Rat A-3 9.1 22.5 4.913.5 A-4 18.1 52.1 10.1 17.2 A-9 7.4 26.6 4.1 9.9

To determine the relative potency of human anti-GCGR antibodies acrossdifferent species, Schild analysis was performed for each of selectedhuman antibodies. Briefly, the antibodies at different concentrationswere tested in the presence of a serial dilution of glucagons, from 100nM to 10 fM. The glucagon dose-response curves at differentconcentration of antibodies were plotted using GraphPad Prism software.pA2, which is the negative logarithm of the concentration of antibodyrequired to cause a 2-fold rightward shift of the glucagon dose-responsecurve, was calculated for the antibody. When the Schild slope equals to1, pA2 equals to pKb, the dissociation constant of the antibody binding.Then, Kb is derived by anti-log of pKb and can be used directly tocompare the relative potency of individual antibody across the species.

Additional antibodies were tested for activity against the human GCGR.

Antibody IC50 (nM) A-1 15.0 A-2 10.1 A-5 13.3 A-6 32.2 A-7 8.8 A-8 10.4A-10 No activity A-11 16.7 A-12 21.3 A-13 72.6 A-14 457.5 A-15 11.3 A-16No activity A-17 No activity A-18 203.7 A-19 No activity A-20 Noactivity A-21 47.2 A-22 7.2 A-23 No activityKb Values Determined by Schild Analysis

Kb (nM) Cynomolgus Human Monkey Murine Rat A-3 1.6 5.0 0.5 3.2 A-4 1.765.7 0.88 ND

Example 5 Recombinant Expression and Purification of Antibodies

Development of Stable Cell Line Expressing Antibodies

PCR primers were designed to capture the complete light chain openreading frame and signal peptide and variable region of the heavy chainopen reading frame based on the DNA sequences of each antibody providedby Abgenix. The complete light chain and heavy chain signal peptide andvariable region plus the human IgG2 constant region were ligated intothe expression vectors pDC323 and pDC324 respectively.

As example of the PCR primer sets; the 5′ A-9 light chain primer was4337-12 (5′-AAG CTC GAG GTC GAC TAG ACC ACC ATG GAC ATG AGG GTC CCC GCTCAG CTC CTG-3′) (SEQ ID NO: 313) which contains the SalI restrictionenzyme site, an in-frame termination codon, the Kozak sequence and codesfor the amino acids MDMRVPAQLL (SEQ ID NO: 314) and the 3′ primer3250-80 (5′-AAC CGT TTA AAC GCG GCC GCT CAA CAC TCT CCC CTG TTG AA-3′)(SEQ ID NO: 315) which contains the NotI restriction enzyme site, thetermination codon and codes for the amino acids FNRGEC (SEQ ID NO: 316).The 5′ A-9 heavy chain primer was 3444-34 (5′-AAG CTC GAG GTC GAC TAGACC ACC ATG GAG TTT GGG CTG AGC TGG GTT TTC-3′) (SEQ ID NO: 317) whichcontains the SalI restriction enzyme site, an in-frame terminationcodon, the Kozak sequence and codes for the amino acids MEFGLSWVF (SEQID NO: 318), the A-9 heavy chain variable region/IgG2 (+) strandjunction primer 4341-29 (5′-GAC CAC GGT CAC CGT CTC CTC AGC CTC CAC CAAGGG CCC ATC GGT CTT-3′) (SEQ ID NO: 319) and its complimentary (−)strand primer 4341-30 (5′-AAG ACC GAT GGG CCC TTG GTG GAG GCT GAG GAGACG GTG ACC GTG GTC-3′) (SEQ ID NO: 320) which code for the amino acidsGTTVTVSSASTKGPSVF (SEQ ID NO: 321) and the 3′ primer 3250-79 (5′-AAC CGTTTA AAC GCG GCC GCT CAT TTA CCC GGA GAC AGG GA-3′) (SEQ ID NO: 322)which contains the NotI restriction enzyme site, the termination codonand codes for the amino acids SLSPGK (SEQ ID NO: 323).

The CHO host cells used for transfection of the anti-GCGR expressionplasmid(s) are a CHO cell line derived from DXB-11 cells (Urlaub et al,PNAS US 77:4126-4220, (1980)) through adaptation to serum-free medium(Rasmussen et al, Cytotechnology 28:3142, 1998).

The anti-GCGR cell lines were created by transfecting host cells withthe expression plasmids pDC323-anti-GCGR kappa andpDC324-[anti-GCGR-IgG2] using a standard electroporation procedure.After transfection of the host cell line with the expression plasmidsthe cells were grown in selection medium (without GHT) containing 4%dialysed fetal bovine serum (ds or dfFBS) for 2-3 weeks to allow forselection of the plasmid and recovery of the cells. Serum was thenremoved from the medium and the cells were grown in −GHT selectivemedium until they achieved >85% viability. This pool of transfectedcells was then cultured in medium containing 150 nM of MTX.

Cell Line Cloning

A cell bank was made of selected clones according to the followingprocedure. The cloning step ensures that clonal populations and cellbanks were generated enabling a reproducible performance in commercialmanufacturing. An amplified pool of antibody-expressing cells was seededunder limiting dilution in 96-well plates, and candidate clones wereevaluated for growth and productivity performance in small-scale studies

Example 6 In vivo Activity in ob/ob Mice

12-week old male ob/ob mice (Jackson Laboratories, Bar Harbor, Me.) wereinjected IP with a buffer or antibody 3 or 4 at the dose of 1 or 3 mg/kg(n=8-10/group). Blood glucose was measured at time 0 and at 24, 48, 72,96, 120, 144, 192 and 240 hours after a single injection of antibody.Blood glucose was lowered with antibody 3 for 8 days at a dose of 3mg/kg antibody as shown in FIG. 1.

Similarly, 12-week old male ob/ob mice (Jackson Laboratories, BarHarbor, Me.) were injected IP with a buffer or antibody 3 or 9 at thedose of 1 or 3 mg/kg (n=8-10/group). Blood glucose was measured at time0 and at 24, 72, 120, 192 and 240 hours after a single injection ofantibody. Blood glucose was lowered with antibody 3 and 9 for 8 days ata dose of 3 mg/kg antibody as shown in FIG. 2.

Example 7 In vivo Efficacy in Normal Male Cynomolgus Monkeys

The efficacy of a single subcutaneous (SC) dose of antibody A-9 wasevaluated in male cynomolgus monkeys at the Yunnan Primate Center(Yunnan, China). Glucose tolerance tests (GTT) were performed on themonkeys by testing for glucose clearance from the blood afterchallenging them with an oral dose of glucose. The GTT data is presentedas AUC (area under the curve), as seen in FIG. 3, representing theglucose clearance by measuring amount of blood glucose at 0, 30 and 90minutes post challenge. As shown in FIG. 3, pre-dose GTT1 wasadministered in a staggered fashion starting 24 days prior to theantibody administration, pre-dose GTT2 was administered in a staggeredmanner starting 17 days prior to a single dose. The antibody wasadministered as a single subcutaneous (SC) injection of a total of 3 or30 mg/kg of antibody A-9 or a control to 30 male cynomolgus monkeys.GTT3 was administered to the monkeys at 3 days post injection, GTT4 wasadministered 8 days post injection, and GTT5 was administered 17 dayspost injection. The results, shown in FIG. 3, were that a single SCinjection of either 3 or 30 mg/kg of antibody 9 improved glucoseclearance during a glucose tolerance test.

Example 8 Competitive Binding Assays

Several of the antibodies of the present invention were binned using acompetition binding assay to determine what antibodies cross-competedfor binding with a labeled reference anti-GCGR antibody. The A-3antibody was labeled with Alexa fluorescent dye (MolecularProbes/Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) as a tracer, prepared according tomanufacturer's instructions. Each antibody was assayed across a doserange for its ability to compete with labeled A-3 antibody fixed at 1 nMconcentration for binding to human GCGR receptor expressed on CHO cells(as described above). The fluorescent intensity was measured by FMAT asdescribed in Example 4, and the extent of inhibition of Alexa A-3binding to the receptor was calculated. Three groups of antibodies canbe categorized based on these analyses. They are surmountable, partiallysurmountable or non-surmountable antibodies when competing withAlexa-A-3. The surmountable antibodies are able to compete for bindingwith A-3, while the non-surmountable antibodies cannot cross-compete andappear to have different sites of binding on the human GCGR. Thepartially surmountable antibodies have some overlap of binding site withA-3. These are shown in FIGS. 4-6. The antibodies tested and found to becapable of competing for binding with Alexa A-3 (surmountable) are A-11,A-2, A-7, A-12, A-17, A-6, A-8, A-15 and A-S. The antibodies tested andfound to be only partially capable of competing for binding with AlexaA-3 (partially surmountable) are A-16, A-14, A-20, and A-23. Theantibodies tested and found to be not capable of competing for bindingwith Alexa A-3 are A-19 and A-10. It is noted that all or most of thesurmountable antibodies show inhibitory activity in the cell based assay(IC50) whereas the partially surmountable and unsurmountable antibodiesdid not show activity using this assay.

Example 9 Construction of Chimeric Receptors

Human GCGR is most homologous to human GLP-1 receptor and both belong tofamily B GPCR with 3 pairs of cysteines in the N-terminal section of thereceptors. In order to determine the region or site on the human GCGR towhich the human antibodies being tested will bind, and determine theimportance of conformation maintained by the three pairs of cysteinesthat form disulfide bonds with each other, multiple chimeric receptorconstructs between human GCGR and human GLP-1R (GLP-1R, accession numberNP_(—)002053) were generated and expressed in cells. These are shown inFIG. 7. The sequences of the chimera from human GCGR are indicated inFIG. 7. For example, in chimera 4 shown at the top of the figure aminoacids 1-142 are from human GCGR and the remainder from GLP-1 receptor.Chimera 4 contains the three pairs of cysteines intact. Point mutationsin paired cysteines (Cys 1-3, Cys 2-5 or Cys 4-6) were introduced inchimera 4 so that the three subsequent chimeras, chimera-4 1CA, 3CA; 42CA, 5CA, and 4 4CA, 6CA each have one of the cysteine pairs disrupted.Chimera-7 has amino acids 1-79 from the human GCGR; chimera-8 has aminoacids 80-477 from human GCGR; chimera-10 has amino acids 80-142 fromhuman GCGR; chimera-15 has amino acids 80-119 from human GCGR;chimera-19 has amino acids 1-119 and 143-477 from human GCGR. The cellsurface receptor expression were monitored by in frame C-terminal fusionof fluorescent protein. The binding of the antibody to specific chimerareceptor was directly measured by FMAT with Alexa-labeled referenceantibody A-3. As shown in FIG. 7, all antibodies tested here requireN-terminus of human GCGR (amino acid 1-142) for binding. AntibodiesA-18, A-21, and A-10 behaved similarly in that they exhibited bindingonly the chimera-4 with all three cysteine pairs intact. This indicatesa conformational epitope for these antibodies. For antibody A-3, aminoacid sequence from 80 to 119 of human GCGR is necessary and sufficientenough for antibody binding. In addition, it was demonstrated that aminoacids 120-142 of human GCGR are not needed for A-3 binding. Furthermore,for antibody A-3, conformation is maintained by 2^(nd) and 3^(rd) pairs(Cys 2-5, Cys 4-6), but not 1^(st) pair of cysteines. Therefore, thearea of the receptor that antibody A-3 and all antibodies thatcross-react with A-3 bind to the human GCGR within amino acids Ser80 toSer119 of human GCGR.

Each reference cited herein is incorporated by reference in its entiretyfor all that it teaches and for all purposes.

The present invention is not to be limited in scope by the specificembodiments described herein, which are intended as single illustrationsof individual aspects of the invention, and functionally equivalentmethods and components are invention. Indeed, various modifications ofthe invention, in addition to those shown and described herein willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoingdescription and accompanying drawings. Such modifications are intendedto fall within the scope of the appended claims.

1. An isolated antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof thatspecifically binds to human glucagon receptor, wherein said antibody orsaid antigen-binding fragment thereof comprises: a light chain variabledomain comprising a complementarity determining region 1 (CDR1)comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 14, a CDR2 comprisingthe amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 45 and a CDR3 comprising the aminoacid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 74 and a heavy chain variable domaincomprising a CDR1 comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 102,a CDR2 comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 128, a CDR3comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 169. 2. The isolatedantibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1, wherein thelight chain variable domain and the heavy chain variable domain areselected from the group of combinations consisting of: a light chainvariable domain comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 217 and a heavychain variable domain comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 263 and alight chain variable domain comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 219and a heavy chain variable domain comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:265.
 3. The isolated antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof ofclaim 2, further comprising: a. the light chain constant sequence of SEQID NO: 305; b. the light chain constant sequence of SEQ ID NO: 307; c.the heavy chain constant sequence of SEQ ID NO: 309; d. the light chainconstant sequence of SEQ ID NO: 305 and the heavy chain constantsequence of SEQ ID NO: 309, or e. the light chain constant sequence ofSEQ ID NO: 307 and the heavy chain constant sequence of SEQ ID NO: 309.4. The isolated antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1,wherein said antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof is selectedfrom the group consisting of a human antibody, a chimeric antibody, amonoclonal antibody, a polyclonal antibody, a recombinant antibody, asingle chain antibody, a diabody, a triabody, a tetrabody, a Fabfragment, an IgD antibody, an IgE antibody, and IgM antibody, and IgG1antibody, and IgG2 antibody, and IgG3 antibody, and IgG4 antibody, andan IgG4 antibody having at least one mutation in the hinge region. 5.The isolated antibody of claim 1, wherein said antibody is a humanantibody.
 6. The isolated human antibody of claim 5, wherein theantibody comprises a light chain comprising the amino acid sequence ofSEQ ID NO: 312 and a heavy chain comprising the amino acid sequence ofSEQ ID NO:
 311. 7. A composition comprising the isolated antibody orantigen-binding fragment thereof of claim 1 in admixture with apharmaceutically acceptable carrier.